P Bazhov fairy tale malachite box. Pavel Bazhov - malachite box

Information for parents: Malachite Box- famous fairy tale Pavel Petrovich Bazhov - a popular writer of the Urals. Tells about Nastasya, who had a malachite box full of gems. The hostess gave it to the girl for her wedding Copper Mountain. But no one could wear those jewelry, except Nastasya’s daughter Tanyusha. In these jewelry she wanted to appear at the reception of the Empress in the malachite hall. But her groom deceived her. Children from 8 to 12 years old will find out whether Tanyusha was able to survive the betrayal. a cautionary tale"Malachite Box".

Read the fairy tale Malachite Box

Nastasya grew up as an orphan, she was not used to this kind of wealth, and she was not much of a fan of fashion. From the first years I lived with Stepan, I wore it, of course, from this box. It just didn't suit her. He’ll put the ring on... It fits exactly right, it doesn’t pinch, it doesn’t roll off, but when he goes to church or on a visit somewhere, he gets dirty. Like a chained finger, in the end it will turn blue. He'll hang the earrings - worse than that. It will tighten your ears so much that your lobes will swell. And to take it on your hand is no heavier than those that Nastasya always carried. Busks in six or seven rows only tried them on once. It’s like ice around your neck, and they don’t warm up at all. She didn’t show those beads to people at all. It was a shame.

- Look, they’ll say what a queen they’ve found in Polevoy!

Stepan also did not force his wife to carry from this box. Once he even said:

Nastasya put the box in the very bottom chest, where canvases and other things are kept in reserve.

When Stepan died and the stones ended up in his dead hand, Nastasya had to show that box to strangers. And the one who knows, who told about Stepanov’s stones, says to Nastasya later, when the people have subsided:

- Just be careful not to waste this box for nothing. It costs more than thousands.

He, this man, was a scientist, also a free man. Previously, he wore smart clothes, but he was removed: he was weakening the people. Well, he didn’t disdain wine. He was also a good tavern plug, so be remembered, the little head is dead. And he’s correct in everything. Write a request, wash off a sample, look at the signs - he did everything according to his conscience, not like others, just to rip off half a pint. Anyone and everyone will bring a glass to him as a festive occasion. So he lived at our factory until his death. He ate around the people.

Nastasya heard from her husband that this dandy is correct and smart in business, even though he has a passion for wine. Well, I listened to him.

“Okay,” he says, “I’ll save it for a rainy day.” - And she put the box in its old place.

They buried Stepan, the Sorochins saluted with honor. Nastasya is a woman in the juice, and with wealth, they began to take advantage of her. And she, a smart woman, tells everyone one thing:

“Even though we’re second in gold, we’re still stepfathers to all the timid kids.”

Well, we are behind in time.

Stepan left good provision for his family. A clean house, a horse, a cow, complete furnishings. Nastasya is a hard-working woman, the kids are timid, they don’t live very well. They live for a year, they live for two, they live for three. Well, they got poor after all. How can one woman with young children manage a household? You also have to get a penny somewhere. At least some salt. Relatives are here and let Nastasya sing in her ears:

- Sell the box! What do you need it for? What good is there to lie in vain! Everything is one and Tanya won’t wear it when she grows up. There are some things over there! Only bars and merchants can buy. With our belt you won’t be able to wear an eco-friendly seat. And people would give money. Distributions for you.

In a word, they are slandering. And the buyer swooped in like a raven on a bone. All from merchants. Some give a hundred rubles, some give two hundred.

- We feel sorry for your children, we make a descent into widowhood.

Well, they're trying to fool a woman, but they hit the wrong one.

Nastasya remembered well what the old dandy told her, he wouldn’t sell it for such a trifle. It's also a pity. After all, it was a groom’s gift, a husband’s memory. And what’s more, her youngest girl burst into tears and asked:

- Mommy, don’t sell it! Mommy, don't sell it! It’s better for me to go among the people and save my dad’s memo.

From Stepan, you see, there are only three little kids left. Two boys. They are timid, but this one, as they say, is neither like mother nor father. Even when Stepanova was a little girl, people marveled at this little girl. Not just the girls and women, but also the men said to Stepan:

- This one must have fallen out of your hands, Stepan. Who has just been born! She herself is black and small, and her eyes are green. It’s like she doesn’t look like our girls at all.

Stepan used to joke:

“It’s no surprise that she’s black.” My father hid in the ground from an early age. And the fact that the eyes are green is also not surprising. You never know, I stuffed master Turchaninov with malachite. This is the reminder I still have.

So I called this girl Memo. - Come on, my reminder! - And when she happened to buy something, she would always bring something blue or green.

So that little girl grew up in people’s minds. Exactly and in fact, the horsetail fell out of the festive belt - it can be seen far away. And although she was not very fond of strangers, everyone was Tanyushka and Tanyushka. The most envious grandmothers admired it. Well, what a beauty! Everyone's nice. One mother sighed:

- Beauty is beauty, but not ours. Exactly who replaced the girl for me

According to Stepan, this girl was killing herself. She was all clean, her face lost weight, only her eyes remained. Mother came up with the idea of giving Tanya that malachite box - let him have some fun. Even if she’s small, she’s still a girl—from a young age, it’s flattering for them to make fun of themselves. Tanya started taking these things apart. And it’s a miracle - the one he tries on, he fits it too. Mother didn’t even know why, but this one knows everything. And he also says:

- Mommy, what a nice gift my dad gave! The warmth from it, as if you were sitting on a warm bed, and someone was stroking you softly.

Nastasya sewed it herself, she remembers how her fingers would become numb, her ears would hurt, and her neck could not get warm. So he thinks: “This is not without reason. Oh, for good reason!” - Yes, hurry up and put the box back in the chest. Only Tanya has since then asked:

- Mommy, let me play with my dad’s gift!

When Nastasya gets strict, well, a mother’s heart, she will regret it, take out the box, and only punish:

- Don’t break anything!

Then, when Tanya grew up, she began to take out the box herself. The mother and the older boys will go to mowing or somewhere else, Tanya will remain behind to do housework. First, of course, he will manage that the mother punished him. Well, wash the cups and spoons, shake off the tablecloth, wave a broom in the hut, give food to the chickens, look at the stove. He’ll get everything done as quickly as possible, and for the sake of the box. Of the upper chests, by that time only one remained, and even that one became light. Tanya slides it onto a stool, takes out the box and sorts through the stones, admires it, and tries it on for herself.

Once upon a time a hitnik climbed up to her. Either he buried himself in the fence early in the morning, or then slipped through unnoticed, but none of the neighbors saw him pass along the street. He’s an unknown man, but apparently someone brought him up to date and explained the whole procedure.

After Nastasya left, Tanyushka ran around doing a lot of housework and climbed into the hut to play with her father’s pebbles. She put on the headband and hung the earrings. At this time, this hitnik puffed into the hut. Tanya looked around - there was an unfamiliar man on the threshold, with an axe. And the ax is theirs. In the senki, in the corner he stood. Just now Tanya was rearranging him, as if in chalk. Tanya was frightened, she sat frozen, and the man jumped, dropped the ax and grabbed his eyes with both hands, as they burned. Moans and screams:

- Oh, fathers, I'm blind! Oh, blind! - and he rubs his eyes.

Tanya sees that something is wrong with the man and begins to ask:

- Why, uncle, did you come to us, why did you take the ax?

And he, you know, groans and rubs his eyes. Tanya took pity on him - she scooped up a ladle of water and wanted to serve it, but the man just shied away with his back to the door.

- Oh, don't come closer! “So I sat in the senki and blocked the doors so that Tanya wouldn’t inadvertently jump out.” Yes, she found a way - she ran out through the window and to her neighbors. Well, here we come. They began to ask what kind of person, in what case? He blinked a little and explained that the person passing by wanted to ask for a favor, but something happened to his eyes.

- Like the sun hit. I thought I would go completely blind. From the heat, perhaps.

Tanya didn’t tell her neighbors about the ax and the stones. They think:

“It’s a waste of time. Maybe she herself forgot to lock the gate, so a passer-by came in, and then something happened to him. You never know"

Still, they didn’t let the passerby go until Nastasya. When she and her sons arrived, this man told her what he had told his neighbors. Nastasya sees that everything is safe, she did not get involved. That man left, and so did the neighbors.

Then Tanya told her mother how it happened. Then Nastasya realized that he had come for the box, but apparently it was not easy to take it.

And she thinks:

“We still need to protect her more tightly.”

She took it quietly from Tanya and the others and buried that box in the golbets.

All the family left again. Tanya missed the box, but there was one. It seemed bitter to Tanya, but then suddenly she felt a warmth. What is this thing? Where? I looked around, and there was light coming from under the floor. Tanya was scared - was it a fire? I looked into the golbets, there was light in one corner. She grabbed a bucket and wanted to splash it, but there was no fire and there was no smell of smoke. I dug around in that place and saw a box. I opened it, and the stones became even more beautiful. So they burn with different lights, and the light from them is like in the sun. Tanya didn’t even drag the box into the hut. Here in the golbtse I played my fill.

This is how it has been since then. The mother thinks: “Well, she hid it well, no one knows,” and the daughter, like housekeeping, snatches an hour to play with her father’s expensive gift. Nastasya didn’t even let her family know about the sale.

— If it comes around the world just right, then I’ll sell it.

Even though it was tough for her, she strengthened herself. So they struggled for a few more years, then things got better. The older boys began to earn little, and Tanya did not sit idle. Listen, she learned how to sew with silks and beads. And so I learned that the best master craftswomen clapped their hands - where does she get the patterns, where does she get the silk?

And it also happened by chance. A woman comes to them. She was short, dark-haired, about Nastasya’s age, and sharp-eyed, and, apparently, she was snooping around like that, just hold on. On the back there is a canvas bag, in the hand there is a bird cherry bag, it looks like a wanderer. Asks Nastasya:

“Can’t you, mistress, have a day or two to rest?” They don’t carry their legs, and they can’t walk close.

At first Nastasya wondered if she had been sent for the box again, but then she finally let her go.

- There is no space for space. If you don’t lie there, go and take it with you. Only our piece is an orphan. In the morning - onion with kvass, in the evening - kvass with onions, that's it. You are not afraid of becoming thin, so you are welcome to live as long as you need to.

And the wanderer has already put her bag down, put her knapsack on the stove and takes off her shoes. Nastasya didn’t like this, but kept silent.

“Look, you ignorant one! I didn’t have time to greet her, but she finally took off her shoes and untied her knapsack.”

The woman, sure enough, unbuttoned her purse and beckoned Tanya to her with her finger:

- Come on, child, look at my handicraft. If he takes a look, I’ll teach you... Apparently, you’ll have a keen eye for this!

Tanya came up, and the woman handed her a small fly, the ends embroidered with silk. And such and such, hey, a hot pattern on that fly that just became lighter and warmer in the hut.

Tanya's eyes glared, and the woman chuckled.

- Look, my daughter, you know, my handicraft? Do you want me to learn it?

“I want to,” he says.

Nastasya got so angry:

- And forget to think! There’s nothing to buy salt with, but you came up with the idea of sewing with silks! Supplies, go figure, cost money.

“Don’t worry about that, mistress,” says the wanderer. - If my daughter has an idea, she will have supplies. For your bread and salt I’ll leave it to her - it’ll last for a long time. And then you will see for yourself. They pay money for our skill. We don’t give away work for nothing. We have a piece.

Here Nastasya had to give in.

“If you spare enough supplies, you won’t learn anything.” Let him learn as long as the concept is enough. I'll thank you.

This woman started teaching Tanya. Tanya quickly took over everything, as if she knew it before. Yes, here's another thing. Tanya was not only unkind towards strangers, but towards her own people, but she clings to this woman and clings to her. Nastasya looked askance:

“I found myself a new family. She won’t approach her mother, but she’s stuck to a tramp!”

And she still teases her, keeps calling Tanya “child” and “daughter”, but never mentions her baptized name. Tanya sees that her mother is offended, but cannot restrain herself. Before that, hey, I trusted this woman because I told her about the box!

“We have,” he says, “we have my father’s dear memento—a malachite box.” That's where the stones are! I could look at them forever.

- Will you show me, daughter? - asks the woman.

Tanya didn’t even think that something was wrong.

“I’ll show you,” he says, “when none of the family is home.”

After such an hour, Tanyushka turned around and called that woman to the cabbage. Tanya took out the box and showed it, and the woman looked at it a little and said:

- Put it on yourself - you will see better.

Well, Tanya, - not the right word - began to put it on, and you know, she praises:

- Okay, daughter, okay! It just needs to be corrected a little.

She came closer and started poking the stones with her finger. The one that touches will light up differently. Tanya can see other things, but not others. After this the woman says:

- Stand up, daughter, straight up.

Tanya stood up, and the woman began to slowly stroke her hair and back. She stroked Veya, and she herself instructs:

“I’ll make you turn around, so don’t look back at me.” Look ahead, notice what will happen, and don’t say anything. Well, turn around!

Tanya turned around - in front of her was a room the likes of which she had never seen. It's not the church, it's not like that. The ceilings are high on pillars made of pure malachite. The walls are also lined with malachite the height of a man, and a malachite pattern runs along the upper cornice. Standing right in front of Tanya, as if in the mirror, is a beauty the likes of which they only talk about in fairy tales. Her hair is like night and her eyes are green. And she is all decorated with expensive stones, and her dress is made of green velvet with iridescence. And so this dress is made, just like the queens in the paintings. What does it hold on to? Out of shame, our factory workers would burn to death to wear something like that in public, but this green-eyed girl stands there calmly, as if that’s the way it should be. There are a lot of people in that room. They are dressed like a lord, and everyone is wearing gold and merit. Some have it hung on the front, some have it sewn on the back, and some have it on all sides. Apparently, the highest authorities. And their women are right there. Also bare-armed, bare-breasted, hung with stones. But where do they care about the green-eyed one! None can hold a candle.

In a row with the green-eyed one is some kind of fair-haired guy. Eyes slanted, ears stumpy, like eating a hare. And the clothes he’s wearing are mind-blowing. This one didn’t think the gold was enough, so he, listen, put stones on his weapon. Yes, so strong that maybe in ten years they will find one like him. You can immediately see that this is a breeder. That green-eyed hare is babbling, but she at least raised an eyebrow, as if he were not there at all.

Tanya looks at this lady, marvels at her, and only then notices:

- After all, there are stones on it! - Tanya said, and nothing happened.

And the woman chuckles:

- I didn’t notice, daughter! Don't worry, you'll see in time.

Tanya, of course, asks - where is this room?

“And this,” he says, “is the royal palace.” The same tent that is decorated with local malachite. Your late father mined it.

- Who is this in her dad’s headdress and what kind of hare is that with her?

- Well, I won’t say that, you’ll soon find out for yourself.

On the same day that Nastasya came home, this woman began to get ready for the journey. She bowed low to the hostess, handed Tanya a bundle of silks and beads, then took out a small button. Either it’s made of glass, or it’s made of dope with a simple edge,

He gives it to Tanya and says:

- Accept, daughter, a reminder from me. Like you forget something at work or hard case will do, look at this button. Here you will have the answer.

She said so and left. They only saw her.

From that time on, Tanya became a craftswoman, and as she grew older, she looked like a bride. The factory guys have calloused their eyes about Nastasya’s windows, and they are afraid to approach Tanya. See, she’s unkind, gloomy, and where would a free woman marry a serf? Who wants to put on a noose?

In the manor's house they also inquired about Tanya because of her skill. They began to send people to her. A younger and nicer footman will be dressed like a gentleman, given a watch with a chain and sent to Tanya, as if on some business. They wonder if the girl will have her sights set on this fellow. Then you can return it. It still didn't make any sense. Tanya will say that it’s on business, and other conversations of that lackey will be ignored. If he gets bored, he will make some more mockery:

- Go, my dear, go! They're waiting. They're afraid that your watch might wear out and your grip might loosen. See, without the habit, how you call them.

Well, these words are like boiling water for a dog to a footman or other servant of the lord. He runs as if scalded, snorting to himself:

- Is this a girl? Stone statue, green-eyed! Will we find one like this!

He snorts like that, but he himself is overwhelmed. The one who will be sent cannot forget Tanyushka’s beauty. As if one is bewitched, one is drawn to that place - even to pass by, to look out the window. On holidays, almost all the factory bachelors have business on that street. The path has been paved right by the windows, but Tanya doesn’t even look.

The neighbors began to reproach Nastasya:

- Why is Tatyana acting so highly on you? She doesn’t have girlfriends and doesn’t want to look at guys. The Tsarevich-Krolevich is waiting for Christ's bride, is everything going well?

Nastasya just sighs at these submissions:

- Oh, ladies, I don’t even know. And so I had a wise girl, and this passing witch completely tormented her. You start talking to her, and she stares at her magic button and remains silent. She should have thrown away that damned button, but in fact it’s good for her. How to change the silk or something, it looks like a button. She told me too, but apparently my eyes have become dull, I can’t see. I would beat the girl, yes, you see, she’s a gold digger among us. Consider, we only live from her work. I think, I think, and I’ll roar. Well, then she will say: “Mommy, I know that there is no destiny for me here. I don’t greet anyone and don’t go to games. What's the point of driving people into depression? And while I’m sitting under the window, my work requires it. Why are you coming at me? What bad thing have I done? So answer her!

Well, life started to go well after all. Tanya’s handicraft has become fashionable. It’s not like in the al factory in our city, they learned about it in other places, they send orders and pay a lot of money. A good man can earn so much money. Only then did trouble befall them - a fire broke out. And it happened at night. The drive, the delivery, the horse, the cow, all kinds of gear - everything burned down. They were left with nothing but what they jumped out in. However, Nastasya snatched the box in time. The next day he says:

- Apparently, the end has come - I’ll have to sell the box.

- Sell it, mommy. Just don't sell it short.

Tanya glanced furtively at the button, and there the green-eyed one loomed - let them sell it. Tanya felt bitter, but what can you do? All the same, this green-eyed girl’s father’s memo will go away. She sighed and said:

- Sell like that. “And I didn’t even look at those stones goodbye.” And that’s to say - they took shelter with the neighbors, where to spread out.

They came up with this idea - to sell it, but the merchants were right there. Who, perhaps, set up the arson himself in order to take possession of the box. Also, the little people are like nails, they’ll get scratched! They see that the kids have grown up, and they give more. Five hundred there, seven hundred, one reached a thousand. There's a lot of money in the plant, you can use it to get some. Well, Nastasya still asked for two thousand. So they go to her and dress up. They throw it on little by little, but they hide from each other, they cannot come to an agreement among themselves. Look, a piece of this - no one wants to give up. While they were walking like this, a new clerk arrived at Polevaya.

When they - clerks - sit for a long time, and in those years they had some kind of transfer. The stuffy goat that was with Stepan was dismissed by the old gentleman on Krylatovskoe for the stench. Then there was Fried Butt. The workers put him on a blank. Here Severyan the Killer stepped in. This again the Mistress of the Copper Mountain threw into the empty rock. There were two or three more there, and then this one arrived.

They say he was from foreign lands, he seemed to speak all sorts of languages, but worse in Russian. He strictly reprimanded one thing - flog. From above, like that, with a stretch - a couple. No matter what shortage they talk to him about, one thing screams: paro! They called him Parotey.

In fact, this Parotya was not very thin. Although he shouted, he didn’t rush people to the fire department. The scoundrels there didn't even care. The people sighed a little at this Parot.

Here, you see, there’s something wrong. By that time the old master had become completely frail, he could barely move his legs. He came up with the idea of marrying his son to some countess or something. Well, this young master had a mistress, and he had great affection for her. How should things be? It's still awkward. What will the new matchmakers say? So the old master began to persuade that woman - his son’s mistress - to marry the musician. This musician served with the master. He taught the little boys, through music, how to speak in a foreign way, as was conducted according to their position.

“How can you,” he says, “live on bad fame, get married?” I’ll give you a dowry and send your husband as a clerk to Polevaya. The matter is directed there, just let the people be stricter. That's enough, I guess it's no use even if you're a musician. And you will live better than the best with him in Polevoy. The first person, one might say, will be. Honor to you, respect from everyone. What's bad?

The butterfly turned out to be a conspiracy. Either she was in a quarrel with the young master, or she was playing tricks.

“For a long time,” he says, “I had a dream about this, but to say that I didn’t dare.”

Well, the musician, of course, was stubborn at first:

“I don’t want to,” she has a very bad reputation, like a slut.

Only the master is a cunning old man. No wonder he built factories. He quickly ruined this musician. He intimidated them with something, or flattered them, or gave them something to drink - that was their business, but soon the wedding was celebrated, and the newlyweds went to Polevaya. So Parotya appeared in our plant. He only lived for a short time, and so - what can I say in vain - he is not a harmful person. Then, when one and a half Hari took over from his factory, they felt so sorry for even this Parotya.

Parotya arrived with his wife just at the time when the merchants were courting Nastasya. Baba Parotina was also prominent. White and ruddy - in a word, a lover. Probably the master wouldn't have taken it. I guess I chose it too! This Parotin’s wife heard that the box was being sold. “Let me,” he thinks, “let me see if it’s really worthwhile.” She quickly got dressed and rolled up to Nastasya. Factory horses are always ready for them!

“Well,” he says, “dear, show me what kind of stones you sell?”

Nastasya took out the box and showed it. Baba Parotina’s eyes began to dart. Listen, she was brought up in Sam-Petersburg, she had been to various foreign countries with the young master, she had a lot of sense in these outfits. “What is this,” he thinks, “this? The queen herself does not have such decorations, but here, in Polevoy, among the fire victims! As long as the purchase doesn’t fall through.”

“How much,” he asks, “are you asking?”

Nastasya says:

“I’d like to take two thousand.”

- Well, honey, get ready! Let's go to me with the box. There you will get the money in full.

Nastasya, however, did not give in to this.

“We,” he says, “don’t have such a custom that bread follows the belly.” If you bring the money, the box is yours.

The lady sees what a woman she is, she’s eagerly running after the money, and she herself punishes:

- Don’t sell the box, honey.

Nastasya answers:

- It's in hope. I won’t go back on my word. I’ll wait until evening, and then it’s my will.

Parotin’s wife left, and the merchants all came running at once. They were watching, you see. They ask:

- Well, how?

“I sold it,” Nastasya answers.

- For how long?

- For two, as prescribed.

“What are you doing,” they shout, “have you made up your mind or what?” You give it into the hands of others, but refuse yours! - And let's raise the price.

Well, Nastasya didn’t take the bait.

“This,” he says, “is something you’re accustomed to spinning around in words, but I haven’t had the chance.” I reassured the woman and the conversation was over!

Parotina's woman turned around very quickly. She brought the money, passed it from hand to hand, picked up the box and went home. Just on the threshold, and Tanya is coming towards you. She, you see, went somewhere, and all this sale happened without her. He sees some lady with a box. Tanya stared at her - they say, she’s not the one she saw then. And Parotin’s wife stared even more than that.

- What kind of obsession? Whose is this? - asks.

“People call me daughter,” Nastasya answers. - The very same heir to the box you bought. I wouldn’t have sold it if the end hadn’t come. From a young age I loved to play with these dresses. He plays and praises them - they make them feel warm and good. What can we say about this! What fell in the cart is gone!

“It’s wrong, dear, you think so,” says Baba Parotina. - I’ll find a place for these stones. “And he thinks to himself: “It’s good that this green-eyed one doesn’t feel her strength. If someone like this showed up in Sam-Petersburg, she would turn the kings around. It’s necessary - my fool Turchaninov didn’t see her.”

With that we parted ways.

Parotya’s wife, when she arrived home, boasted:

- Now, dear friend, I’m not forced by you or the Turchaninovs. Just a little - goodbye! I’ll go to Sam-Petersburg or, better yet, abroad, sell the box and buy two dozen men like you, if the need arises.

She boasted, but she still wants to show off her new purchase. Well, what a woman! She ran to the mirror and first of all attached the headband.

- Oh, oh, what is it! - I have no patience - he twists and pulls his hair. I barely got out. And he’s itching. I put on the earrings and almost tore the earlobes. She put her finger in the ring - it was chained, she could barely pull it off with soap. The husband chuckles: this is obviously not the way to wear it!

And she thinks: “What is this thing? We need to go to the city and show it to the master. He’ll fit it just right, as long as he doesn’t replace the stones.”

No sooner said than done. The next day she drove off in the morning. It's not far from the factory troika. I found out who the most reliable master is, and went to him. The master is very old, but he is good at his work. He looked at the box and asked who it was bought from. The lady said that she knew. The master looked at the box again, but did not look at the stones.

“I won’t take it,” he says, “let’s do whatever you want.” This is not the work of the masters here. We can't compete with them.

The lady, of course, did not understand what the squiggle was, she snorted and ran to the other masters. Only everyone agreed: they will look at the box, admire it, but they don’t look at the stones and flatly refuse to work. The lady then resorted to tricks and said that she brought this box from Sam-Petersburg. They did everything there. Well, the master for whom she wove this just laughed.

“I know,” he says, “where the box was made, and I’ve heard a lot about the master.” All of us can't compete with him. The master fits one for one, it won’t suit another, whatever you want to do.

The lady didn’t understand everything here either, all she understood was that something was wrong, the masters were afraid of someone. I remembered that the old housewife said that her daughter loved to put these dresses on herself.

“Wasn’t it the green-eyed one they were chasing after? What a problem!”

Then he translates again in his mind:

“What do I care! I’ll sell it to any rich fool. Let him toil, and I’ll have the money!” With this I left for Polevaya.

I arrived, and there was news: we received the news - the old master ordered us to live long. He pulled a trick on Paroteya, but death outwitted him - it took him and hit him. He never managed to get his son married, and now he has become the complete master. After a short time, Parotin’s wife received a letter. So and so, my dear, spring water I’ll show up at the factories and take you away, and we’ll caulk your musician somewhere. Parotya somehow found out about this and started a fuss. It's a shame, you see, for him in front of the people. After all, he’s a clerk, and then look, his wife is taken away. I started drinking heavily. With employees, of course. They are happy to try for nothing. Once upon a time we feasted. One of these drinkers and boast:

“A beauty grew up in our factory; you won’t soon find another like it.”

Parotya asks:

-Whose is this? Where does he live?

Well, they told him and mentioned the box - it was in this family that your wife bought the box. Parotya says:

“I’ll have a look,” but the drinkers found something to do.

“At least let’s go now and find out if they built a new hut okay.” The family may be free, but they live on factory land. If something happens, you can press it.

Two or three went with this Parotei. They brought the chain, let’s measure it to see if Nastasya had stabbed herself in someone else’s estate, if the tops were coming out between the pillars. They are looking for, in a word. Then they go into the hut, and Tanya was just alone. Parotya looked at her and lost his words. Well, I have never seen such beauty in any land. He stands there like a fool, and she sits there, keeping quiet, as if it’s none of her business. Then Parotya walked away a little and began asking:

- What are you doing?

Tanya says:

“I sew to order,” and she showed me her work.

“Can I,” says Parotya, “can I make an order?”

- Why not, if we agree on the price.

“Can you,” Parotya asks again, “embroider my pattern with silk?”

Tanya slowly looked at the button, and there the green-eyed woman gave her a sign - take the order! - and points a finger at himself. Tanya answers:

“I won’t have my own pattern, but I have a woman in mind, wearing expensive stones and wearing a queen’s dress, I can embroider this one.” But such work will not be cheap.

“Don’t worry about this,” he says, “I’ll pay even a hundred, even two hundred rubles, as long as there is a similarity with you.”

“In the face,” he answers, “there will be similarities, but the clothes are different.”

We got dressed for a hundred rubles. Tanya set a deadline - in a month. Only Parotya, no, no, will run in as if to find out about the order, but he himself has the wrong thing in mind. He’s also frowned upon, but Tanya doesn’t notice at all. He will say two or three words, and that’s the whole conversation. Parotin’s drinkers began to laugh at him:

- It won’t break off here. You shouldn't be shaking your boots!

Well, Tanya embroidered that pattern. Parotya looks - wow, my God! But that’s what she is, adorned with clothes and stones. Of course, he gives me three hundred-dollar tickets, but Tanya didn’t take two.

“We’re not used to accepting gifts,” he says. We feed on labor.

Parotya ran home, admired the pattern, and kept it secret from his wife. He began to feast less, and began to delve into the factory business a little bit.

In the spring, a young gentleman came to the factories. I drove to Polevaya. The people were rounded up, a prayer service was served, and then the bell ringers began to ring in the manor’s house. Two barrels of wine were also rolled out to the people - to remember the old master and congratulate the new master. That means the seed has been done. All the Turchanin masters were experts at this. As soon as you fill the master’s glass with a dozen of your own, it will seem like God knows what kind of holiday, but in reality it will turn out that you’ve washed your last penny and it’s completely useless. The next day people went to work, and there was another feast in the master's house. And so it went. They’ll sleep as long as they can and then go on a party again. Well, there, they ride boats, ride horses into the forest, play music, you never know. And Parotya is drunk all the time. The master purposely placed the most dashing roosters with him - pump him up to capacity! Well, they try to serve the new master.

Even though Parotya is drunk, he senses where things are heading. He feels awkward in front of guests. He says at the table, in front of everyone:

“It doesn’t matter to me that master Turchaninov wants to take my wife away from me.” May you be lucky! I don't need one like that. That's who I have! - Yes, and he takes that silk patch out of his pocket. Everyone gasped, but Baba Parotina couldn’t even close her mouth. The master, too, had his eyes fixed on him. He became curious.

- Who is she? - asks.

Parotya, you know, laughs:

- The table is full of gold - and I won’t say that!

Well, what can you say if the factory workers immediately recognized Tanya? One tries in front of the other - they explain to the master. Parotina woman with arms and legs:

- What do you! What do you! Make such nonsense! Where did a factory girl get such a dress and expensive stones? And this husband brought the pattern from abroad. He showed it to me before the wedding. Now, from drunken eyes, you never know what will happen. Soon he won’t remember himself. Look, he's all swollen!

Parotya sees that his wife is not very nice, so he starts blabbering:

- You are Stramina, Stramina! Why are you weaving braids, throwing sand in the master’s eyes! What pattern did I show you? Here they sewed it for me. The same girl they're talking about over there. As for the dress, I won’t lie, I don’t know. You can wear whatever dress you want. And they had stones. Now you have them locked in your closet. I bought them myself for two thousand, but I couldn’t wear them. Apparently, the Cherkassy saddle does not suit the cow. The whole factory knows about the purchase!

As soon as the master heard about the stones, he immediately:

- Come on, show me!

Hey, hey, he was a little small and a bit of a spendthrift. In a word, heir. He had a strong passion for stones. He had nothing to show off - as they say, neither his height nor his voice - just stones. Wherever he hears about a good stone, he can buy it now. And he knew a lot about stones, even though he wasn’t very smart.

Baba Parotina sees that there is nothing to do, she brought the box. The master looked and immediately:

- How many?

It boomed completely unheard of. Master dress up. Halfway through they agreed, and the master signed the loan paper: you see, he didn’t have any money with him. The master put the box on the table in front of him and said:

- Call this girl we're talking about.

They ran for Tanya. She didn’t mind, she went straight away, thinking how big the order was. She comes into the room, and it’s full of people, and in the middle is the same hare that she saw then. In front of this hare is a box - a gift from his father. Tanya immediately recognized the master and asked:

- Why did you call me?

The master cannot say a word. I stared at her and that was all. Then I finally found a conversation:

— Your stones?

“They were ours, now they’re theirs,” and pointed to Parotina’s wife.

“Mine now,” the master boasted.

- This is your business.

- Do you want me to give it back?

- There is nothing to give back.

- Well, can you try them on yourself? I would like to see how these stones look on a person.

“That,” Tanya answers, “is possible.”

She took the box, dismantled the decorations - a usual thing - and quickly attached them to their place. The master looks and just gasps. Oh yes oh, no more words. Tanya stood in her attire and asked:

- Have you looked? Will? It’s not easy for me to stand here - I have work.

The master is here in front of everyone and says:

- Marry me. Agree?

Tanya just grinned:

“It wouldn’t be appropriate for a master to say such a thing.” - She took off her clothes and left.

Only the master does not lag behind. The next day he came to make a match. He asks and prays to Nastasya: give up your daughter for me.

Nastasya says:

“I don’t take away her will, as she wants, but in my opinion it doesn’t fit.”

Tanya listened and listened and said:

- That's it, that's not it... I heard it as if royal palace There is a chamber lined with malachite from the booty. Now, if you show me the queen in this chamber, then I will marry you.

The master, of course, agrees to everything. Now he’s starting to get ready for Sam-Petersburg and is calling Tanya with him - he says, I’ll give you the horses. And Tanya answers:

“According to our ritual, the bride does not ride to the wedding on the groom’s horses, and we are still nothing.” Then we’ll talk about it once you’ve fulfilled your promise.

“When,” he asks, “will you be in Sam-Petersburg?”

“I’ll definitely go to the Intercession,” he says. Don’t worry about it, but for now, leave here.

The master left, of course he didn’t take Parotina’s wife, he doesn’t even look at her. As soon as I came home to Sam-Petersburg, let’s spread the word all over the city about the stones and about my bride. I showed the box to many people. Well, the bride was very curious to see. For the fall, the master prepared an apartment for Tanya, brought all kinds of dresses, shoes, and she sent the news - here she lives with such and such a widow on the very outskirts. The master, of course, is going there right away:

- What do you! Is it a good idea to live here? The apartment is ready, first grade!

And Tanya answers:

The rumor about the stones and Turchaninov’s bride reached the queen. She says:

- Let Turchaninov show me his bride. There are a lot of lies about her.

Master to Tanyushka, they say, we need to get ready. Sew an outfit so that you can wear stones from a malachite box into the palace. Tanya answers:

“It’s not your sadness about the outfit, but I’ll take the stones to keep.” Yes, look, don’t try to send horses after me. I'll use mine. Just wait for me at the porch, in the palace.

The master thinks, where did she get the horses? where is the palace dress? - but still didn’t dare ask.

So they began to gather for the palace. Everyone rides up on horses, wearing silks and velvets. Turchaninov's master hangs around the porch early in the morning - waiting for his bride. Others are also curious to look at her - they stopped immediately. And Tanya put on her stones, tied herself with a scarf in the factory style, threw on her fur coat and quietly walked away. Well, people - where did this come from? - the shaft is falling behind her. Tanyushka approached the palace, but the royal lackeys did not let her in - it was not allowed, they say, because of the factory workers. Turchaninov's master saw Tanyushka from afar, but he was ashamed in front of his own people that his bride was on foot, and even in such a fur coat, he took it and hid. Tanya then opened her fur coat, the footmen looked - what a dress! The queen doesn't have that! - they let me in right away. And when Tanya took off her scarf and fur coat, everyone around gasped:

-Whose is this? Which lands is the queen?

And master Turchaninov is right there.

“My bride,” he says.

Tanya looked at him sternly:

- We'll see about that! Why did you deceive me - you didn’t wait at the porch?

Master back and forth - it was a mistake. Excuse me please.

They went to the royal chambers, where they were ordered. Tanya looks - it’s not the right place. Turchaninova asked the master even more sternly:

- What kind of deception is this? It was told to you that in that chamber, which is lined with malachite from woodwork! - And she walked through the palace as if at home. And senators, generals and others follow her.

- What, they say, is this? Apparently, it was ordered there.

There were a ton of people, and everyone couldn’t take their eyes off Tanya, but she stood right next to the malachite wall and waited. Turchaninov, of course, is right there. He mutters to her that something is wrong, the queen did not order her to wait in this room. And Tanya stands calmly, even if she raised an eyebrow, as if the master was not there at all.

The queen went out into the room where she was assigned. He looks - there is no one. The Tsarina’s earphones bring it home - Turchaninov’s bride took everyone to the malachite chamber. The queen grumbled, of course, - what kind of self-will! She stamped her feet. She got a little angry, that is. The queen comes to the malachite chamber. Everyone bows to her, but Tanya stands there and doesn’t move.

The queen shouts:

- Come on, show me this unauthorized bride - Turchaninov’s bride!

Tanya heard this, her eyebrows furrowed, and she said to the master:

- This is something else I came up with! I told the queen to show me, and you arranged to show me to her. Cheating again! I don't want to see you anymore! Get your stones!

With this word she leaned against the malachite wall and melted. All that remains is that the stones sparkle on the wall, as if stuck to the places where the head, neck, and arms were.

Everyone, of course, was scared, and the queen fell unconscious on the floor. They started fussing and started lifting. Then, when the commotion subsided, the friends said to Turchaninov:

- Pick up some stones! They'll steal it quickly. Not just any place - a palace! They know the price here!

Turchaninov and let's grab those stones. The one he grabs will curl up into a droplet. Sometimes the drop is pure, like a tear, sometimes it’s yellow, and sometimes it’s thick, like blood. So I didn’t collect anything. He looks and sees a button lying on the floor. From bottle glass, on a simple edge. Not a big deal at all. Out of grief, he grabbed her. As soon as he took it in his hand, in this button, as in a large mirror, a green-eyed beauty in a malachite dress, all decorated with expensive stones, burst out laughing:

- Oh, you crazy slanting hare! Should you take me? Are you my match?

After that, the master lost his last mind, but did not throw away the button. No, no, and he looks at it, and there’s still the same thing: the green-eyed one is standing there, laughing and offensive words speaks. Out of grief, the master let’s copy, he got into debt, almost under him our factories were not sold under the hammer.

And Parotya, when he was suspended, went to the taverns. I drank to the point of drinking, and the patret is that silken shore. No one knows where this pattern went afterwards.

Parotin’s wife didn’t profit either: go ahead, get the loan paper, if all the iron and copper are pledged!

From that time on, there was not a word from our factory about Tanya. How it wasn't.

Nastasya grieved, of course, but not too much either. Tanya, you see, at least she was a caretaker for the family, but Nastasya is still like a stranger.

And that is to say, Nastasya’s boys had grown up by that time. Both got married. The grandchildren have gone. There were a lot of people in the hut. Know, turn around - look after this one, give it to someone else... It's getting boring here!

The bachelor did not forget longer. He kept trampling under Nastasya’s windows. They waited to see if Tanya would appear at the window, but they never did.

Then, of course, they got married, but no, no, they remember:

- That's what a girl we had in the factory! You won't see another one like this in your life.

And even after this incident, a note came out. They said that the Mistress of the Copper Mountain began to double: people saw two girls in malachite dresses at once.

Nastasya grew up as an orphan, she was not used to this kind of wealth, and she was not much of a fan of fashion. From the first years I lived with Stepan, I wore it, of course, from this box. It just didn't suit her. He’ll put the ring on... It fits exactly right, doesn’t pinch, doesn’t roll off, but when he goes to church or on a visit somewhere, he gets dirty. Like a chained finger, in the end the nali (even - Ed.) will turn blue. He'll hang his earrings - worse than that. It will tighten your ears so much that your lobes will swell. And to take it on your hand is no heavier than those that Nastasya always carried. Busks in six or seven rows only tried them on once. It’s like ice around your neck, and they don’t warm up at all. She didn’t show those beads to people at all. It was a shame.

Look, they will say what a queen they have found in Polevoy!

Stepan also did not force his wife to carry from this box. Once he even said:

Take it somewhere out of harm's way. Nastasya put the box in the very bottom chest, where canvases and other things are kept in reserve. As Stepan died and the stones ended up in his dead hand, Nastasya had to (had to - Ed.) show that box to strangers. And the one who knows, who told about Stepanov’s stones, says to Nastasya, then, as the people subsided:

Just be careful not to waste this box for nothing. It costs more than thousands.

He, this man, was a scientist, also a free man. Previously, he wore dandies (mining masters - Ed.), but he was suspended; It weakens the people. Well, he didn’t disdain wine. He was also a good tavern plug, so be remembered, the little head is dead. And he is correct in everything. Write a request, wash off a sample, look at the signs - he did everything according to his conscience, not like others, just to rip off half a pint. Anyone and everyone will bring a glass to him as a festive occasion. So he lived at our factory until his death. He ate around the people.

Nastasya heard from her husband that this dandy is correct and smart in business, even though he has a passion for wine. Well, I listened to him.

Okay,” he says, “I’ll save it for a rainy day.” - And she put the box in its old place.

They buried Stepan, the Sorochins saluted with honor. Nastasya is a woman in the juice, and with wealth, they began to take advantage of her. And she, a smart woman, tells everyone one thing:

Even though the golden one is the second, we are still the stepfathers of all the timid children.

Well, we are behind in time.

Stepan left good provision for his family. A clean house, a horse, a cow, complete furnishings. Nastasya is a hard-working woman, the timid little ones (obedient - Ed.), not too crazy (not hard - Ed.) live. They live for a year, they live for two, they live for three. Well, they got poor after all. How can one woman with young children manage a household? You also have to get a penny somewhere. At least some salt. Relatives are here and let Nastasya sing in her ears:

Sell the box! What do you need it for? What good is there to lie in vain! Everything is one and Tanya won’t wear it when she grows up. There are some things over there! Only bars and merchants can buy. With our rags (rags - Ed.) you can’t wear an eco-friendly place. And people would give money. Distributions (help - Ed.) for you.

In a word, they are slandering. And the buyer swooped in like a raven on a bone. All from merchants. Some give a hundred rubles, some give two hundred.

We pity your robbers, we make a descent into widowhood.

Well, they're trying to fool a woman, but they hit the wrong one. Nastasya remembered well what the old dandy told her, he wouldn’t sell it for such a trifle. It's also a pity. After all, it was a groom’s gift, a husband’s memory. And what’s more, her youngest girl burst into tears and asked:

Mommy, don't sell it! Mommy, don't sell it! It’s better for me to go among the people and save my dad’s memo.

From Stepan, you see, there are only three little kids left.

Two boys. They are timid, but this one, as they say, is neither like mother nor father. Even when Stepanova was a little girl, people marveled at this girl. Not just the girls and women, but also the men said to Stepan:

Otherwise, this one fell out of your hands, Stepan ( beautiful girl is compared to a garusinka that fell from the tassels of a belt that was previously worn by both men and women in the Urals. - V.A. Bazhova). Who has just been born! She herself is black and pretty (pretty. - Ed.), and her eyes are green. It’s like she doesn’t look like our girls at all.

Stepan used to joke:

It's no surprise that she's black. From an early age, my father hid in the ground (scraped in the ground. - Ed.). And that the eyes are green is also not surprising. You never know, I stuffed master Turchaninov with malachite. This is the reminder I still have.

So I called this girl Memo. - Come on, my Memo! - And when she happened to buy something, she would always bring something blue or green.

Beauty is beauty, but not ours. Exactly who replaced the girl for me.

According to Stepan, this girl was killing herself. She was all clean, her face lost weight, only her eyes remained. Mother came up with the idea of giving Tanya that malachite box - let him have some fun. Even if she’s small, she’s still a girl—from a young age, it’s flattering for them to make fun of themselves. Tanya started taking these things apart. And it’s a miracle - the one she tries on, she also fits it. Mother didn’t even know why, but this one knows everything. And he also says:

Mommy, what a good gift daddy gave! The warmth from it, as if you were sitting on a warm bed, and someone was stroking you softly.

Nastasya sewed the patches herself; she remembers how her fingers would become numb, her ears would hurt, and her neck could not get warm. So he thinks: “It’s not without reason. Oh, it’s not without reason!” - Yes, hurry up and put the box back in the chest. Only Tanya has since then asked:

Mommy, let me play with my dad’s gift!

When Nastasya gets strict, well, a mother’s heart, she will regret it, take out the box, and only punish:

Don't break anything!

Then, when Tanya grew up, she began to take out the box herself. The mother and the older boys will go to mowing or somewhere else, Tanya will stay behind to do housework. First, of course, he will manage that the mother punished him. Well, wash the cups and spoons, shake off the tablecloth, wave a broom in the hut, give food to the chickens, look at the stove. He’ll get everything done as quickly as possible, and for the sake of the box. By that time, only one of the upper chests remained, and even that one had become light. Tanya slides it onto a stool, takes out the box and sorts through the stones, admires it, and tries it on for herself.

Once a hitnik got into her place (thief - Ed.). Either he buried himself in the fence early in the morning, or then slipped through unnoticed, but none of the neighbors saw him pass along the street. He's an unknown man, but apparently someone brought him up to date and explained the whole procedure.

After Nastasya left, Tanyushka ran around doing a lot of housework and climbed into the hut to play with her father’s pebbles. She put on the headband and hung the earrings. At this time, this hitnik puffed into the hut. Tanya looked around - there was an unfamiliar man on the threshold, with an axe. And the ax is theirs. In the senki, in the corner he stood. Just now Tanya was rearranging him, as if in chalk. Tanya was frightened, she sat frozen, and the man jumped (yelled in surprise. - Ed.), dropped the ax and grabbed his eyes with both hands, as it burned them. Moans and screams:

Oh, fathers, I'm blind! Oh, blind! - and he rubs his eyes.

Tanya sees that something is wrong with the man and begins to ask:

How did you come to us, uncle, why did you take the ax?

And he, you know, groans and rubs his eyes. Tanya took pity on him - she scooped up a ladle of water and wanted to serve it, but the man just shied away with his back to the door.

Oh, don't come near! - So he sat in the senki and blocked the doors so that Tanya wouldn’t inadvertently jump out. Yes, she found a way - she ran out through the window and to her neighbors. Well, here we come. They began to ask what kind of person, in what case? He blinked a little and explained that the person passing by wanted to ask for a favor, but something happened to his eyes.

Like the sun hit. I thought I would go completely blind. From the heat, perhaps.

Tanya didn’t tell her neighbors about the ax and the stones. They think:

“It’s a trivial matter. Maybe she herself forgot to lock the gate, so a passer-by came in, and then something happened to him. You never know.”

Then Tanya told her mother how it happened. Then Nastasya realized that he had come for the box, but apparently it was not easy to take it.

And she thinks:

“We still need to protect her more tightly.”

She took it quietly from Tanya and the others and buried that box in the golbets (underground - Ed.).

It will fit around the world - then I’ll sell it.

Couldn't you, mistress, have a day or two to rest? They don’t carry their legs, and they can’t walk close.

At first Nastasya wondered if she had been sent for the box again, but then she finally let her go.

I don't mind the space. If you don’t lie there, go and take it with you. Only our piece is an orphan. In the morning - onion with kvass, in the evening - kvass with onions, that's it. You are not afraid of becoming thin, so you are welcome to live as long as you need to.

And the wanderer has already put her bag down, put her knapsack on the stove and takes off her shoes. Nastasya didn’t like this, but kept silent.

“Look at you, you ignorant (uncourteous - Ed.)! I didn’t have time to greet her, but she just took off her shoes and untied her knapsack.”

The woman, sure enough, unbuttoned her purse and beckoned Tanya to her with her finger:

Come, child, look at my handiwork. If he takes a look, I’ll teach you... Apparently, you’ll have a keen eye for it!

Tanya came up, and the woman handed her a small fly, the ends embroidered with silk. And such and such, hey, a hot pattern on that fly that just became lighter and warmer in the hut.

Tanya's eyes glared, and the woman chuckled.

Look, my daughter, do you know what my handicraft is? Do you want me to learn it?

I want, he says. Nastasya got so angry:

And forget to think! There’s nothing to buy salt with, but you came up with the idea of sewing with silks! Supplies, go figure, cost money.

Don’t worry about that, mistress,” says the wanderer. - If my daughter has an idea, she will have supplies. For your bread and salt I’ll leave it to her - it’ll last for a long time. And then you will see for yourself. They pay money for our skill. We don’t give away our work for nothing. We have a piece.

Here Nastasya had to give in.

If you spare enough supplies, you won’t learn anything. Let him learn as long as the concept is enough. I'll thank you.

This woman started teaching Tanya. Tanya quickly took over everything, as if she knew it before. Yes, here's another thing. Tanya was not only unkind to strangers, but to her own people, but she just clings to this woman and clings to her. Nastasya looked askance:

“I found myself a new relative. She won’t fit in with her mother, but she’s stuck with a tramp!”

“We have,” he says, “we have a dear memento of my father—a malachite box.” That's where the stones are! I could look at them forever.

Will you show me, daughter? - asks the woman.

Tanya didn’t even think that something was wrong.

“I’ll show you,” he says, “when none of the family is home.”

After such an hour, Tanyushka turned around and called that woman to the cabbage. Tanya took out the box and showed it, and the woman looked at it a little and said:

Put it on yourself and you will see better. Well, Tanya, - the wrong word (immediately - Ed.), - began to put it on, and you know, she praises:

Okay, daughter, okay! It just needs to be corrected a little.

She came closer and started poking the stones with her finger. The one that touches will light up differently. Tanya can see other things, but not others. After this the woman says:

Stand up, daughter, straight up.

Tanya stood up, and the woman began to slowly stroke her hair and her back. She ironed everything, and she herself instructs:

I'll make you turn around, so don't look back at me. Look ahead, take note of what will happen, and don’t say anything. Well, turn around!

In a row with the green-eyed one is some kind of fair-haired guy. Eyes slanted, ears stumpy, like eating a hare.

And the clothes he’s wearing are mind-blowing. This guy didn’t think the gold was enough, so he, hey, put stones on his shoes (shoes - Ed.). Yes, so strong that maybe in ten years they will find one like him. You can immediately see that this is a breeder. That green-eyed hare is babbling, but she at least raised an eyebrow, as if he were not there at all.

Tanya looks at this lady, marvels at her, and only then notices:

After all, there are stones on it! - Tanya said, and nothing happened. And the woman chuckles:

I didn’t notice, daughter! Don't worry, you'll see in time.

Tanya, of course, asks - where is this room?

And this, he says, is the royal palace. The same chamber that is decorated with local malachite. Your late father mined it.

Who is this in her dad’s headdress and what kind of hare is she with?

Well, I won’t say that, you’ll soon find out for yourself.

On the same day that Nastasya came home, this woman began to get ready for the journey. She bowed low to the hostess, handed Tanya a bundle of silks and beads, then took out a small button. Either it is made of glass, or it is made of foolscap with a simple edge.

He gives it to Tanya and says:

Accept, my daughter, a reminder from me. Whenever you forget something at work or a difficult situation comes up, look at this button. Here you will have the answer. She said so and left. They only saw her. From that time on, Tanya became a craftswoman, and as she grew older, she looked like a bride. The factory guys have calloused their eyes about Nastasya’s windows, and they are afraid to approach Tanya. See, she’s not kind, she’s not cheerful, and where is she for a serf? freestyle will go. Who wants to put on a noose?

In the manor's house they also inquired about Tanya because of her skill. They began to send people to her. A younger and nicer footman will be dressed like a gentleman, given a watch with a chain and sent to Tanya, as if on some business. They wonder if the girl will have her sights set on this fellow. Then you can convert it (subjugate it - Ed.). It still didn't make any sense. Tanya will say that it’s on business, and other conversations of that lackey will be ignored. If he gets bored, he will make some mockery:

Go, my dear, go! They're waiting. They're afraid that your watch might wear out and your grip might loosen. See, without the habit, how you call them.

Well, these words are like boiling water for a dog to a footman or other servant of the lord. He runs as if scalded, snorting to himself:

Is this a girl? Stone statue, green-eyed! Will we find one!

He snorts like that, but he himself is overwhelmed. The one who will be sent cannot forget Tanyushka’s beauty. Like someone who is bewitched, he is drawn to that place - even to pass by, to look out the window. On holidays, almost all the factory bachelors have business on that street. The path has been paved right by the windows, but Tanya doesn’t even look.

The neighbors began to reproach Nastasya:

Why is it that Tatyana behaved so highly? She doesn’t have girlfriends and doesn’t want to look at guys. The Tsarevich-Krolevich is waiting for Christ's bride, is everything going well?

Nastasya just sighs at these submissions:

Oh, ladies, I don’t even know. And so I had a wise girl, and this passing witch completely tormented her. You start talking to her, and she stares at her magic button and remains silent. She should have thrown away that damned button, but in fact it’s good for her. How to change the silk or something, it looks like a button. She told me too, but apparently my eyes have become dull, I can’t see. I would beat the girl, yes, you see, she’s a gold digger among us. Consider, it is only her work that we live. I think, I think, and I’ll roar. Well, then she will say: “Mommy, I know that there is no destiny for me here. I don’t greet anyone and don’t go to games. What’s the point of making people sad? And why am I sitting under the window, my work requires it. For Why are you coming at me (blaming me. - Ed.)? What wrong have I done? So answer her!

Well, life started to go well after all. Tanya’s handicraft has become fashionable. It’s not like in the al factory in our city, they learned about it in other places, they send orders and pay a lot of money. A good man can earn so much money. Only then did trouble befall them - a fire broke out. And it happened at night. The shelter (a building for livestock. - Ed.), the delivery house (an outbuilding for a milking cart. - Ed.), a horse, a cow, all kinds of tackle - everything burned down. They were left with nothing but what they jumped out in. However, Nastasya snatched the box in time. The next day he says:

Apparently, the end has come - I will have to sell the box.

Sell it, mommy. Just don't sell it short.

Sell like that. - And I didn’t even look at those stones goodbye. And that’s to say - they took shelter with neighbors, where to lay out.

They came up with this idea - to sell it, but the merchants were right there. Someone, perhaps, set up the arson himself in order to take possession of the box. Also, the little people are like nails, they’ll get scratched! They see that the guys have grown up, and they give more. Five hundred there, seven hundred, one reached a thousand. There's a lot of money in the plant, you can use it to get some. Well, Nastasya still asked for two thousand. So they go to her and dress up. They throw it on little by little, but they hide from each other, they cannot come to an agreement among themselves. Look at a piece of this - no one wants to give up. While they were walking like this, a new clerk arrived at Polevaya.

In fact, this Parotya was not very thin. At least he shouted, but he didn’t drive people to the firehouse (the place where workers were tortured - Ed.). The local whippersnappers (offenders - Ed.) didn’t even care. The people sighed a little at this Parot.

Here, you see, there’s something wrong. By that time the old master had become completely frail, he could barely move his legs. He came up with the idea of marrying his son to some countess or something. Well, this young master had a mistress, and he had great affection for her. How should things be? It's still awkward. What will the new matchmakers say? So the old master began to persuade that woman - his son’s mistress - to marry the musician. This musician served with the master. He taught the little boys, through music, foreign conversation, as it was conducted according to their position.

Why, - he says, - you can live on bad fame, get married. I’ll give you a dowry and send your husband as a clerk to Polevaya. The matter is directed there, just let the people be stricter. That's enough, I guess it's no use even if you're a musician. And you will live better than the best with him in Polevoy. The first person, one might say, will be. Honor to you, respect from everyone. What's bad?

The butterfly turned out to be a conspiracy. Either she was in a quarrel with the young master, or she was playing tricks.

“For a long time,” he says, “I had a dream about this, but to say, I didn’t dare.”

Well, the musician, of course, was reluctant at first:

I don’t want to - she has a very bad reputation, like a slut.

Parotya arrived with his wife just at the time when the merchants were courting Nastasya. Baba Parotina was also prominent. White and ruddy - in a word, a lover. Probably the master wouldn't have taken it. I guess I chose it too! This Parotin’s wife heard that the box was being sold. “Let me see,” he thinks, “I’ll see if it’s really worthwhile.” She quickly got dressed and rolled up to Nastasya. Factory horses are always ready for them!

Well,” he says, “dear, show me what kind of stones you sell?”

How much, he asks, are you asking?

Nastasya says:

I'd like to take two thousand.

Well, honey, get ready! Let's go to me with the box. There you will get the money in full.

Nastasya, however, did not give in to this.

“We don’t have such a custom, he says, for bread to follow the belly. If you bring the money, the box is yours.

The lady sees what a woman she is, she’s eagerly running after the money, and she herself punishes:

Don't sell the box, honey.

Nastasya answers:

This be in hope. I won’t go back on my word. I’ll wait until evening, and then it’s my will.

Parotin’s wife left, and the merchants all came running at once. They were watching, you see. They ask:

Well, how?

“I sold it,” Nastasya answers.

How much?

In two, as prescribed.

“What are you doing,” they shout, “have you made up your mind or what?” You give it into the hands of others, but deny it to your own! - And let's raise the price.

Well, Nastasya didn’t take the bait.

“This,” he says, “is something you’re accustomed to spinning around in words, but I haven’t had the chance.” I reassured the woman and the conversation was over!

What kind of obsession? Whose is this? - asks.

“People call me daughter,” Nastasya answers. - You yourself are the heir to the box you bought. I wouldn’t sell it if the end didn’t come. From a young age I loved to play with these dresses. He plays and praises them - they make them feel warm and good. What can I say about this? What's in the cart is gone!

It’s wrong, my dear, to think so,” says Baba Parotina. “I’ll find a place for these stones.” - And he thinks to himself: “It’s good that this green-eyed one doesn’t feel her power. If she showed up in Sam-Petersburg, she would turn over the kings. It must be that my fool Turchaninov didn’t see her.”

With that we parted ways.

Parotya’s wife, when she arrived home, boasted:

Now, dear friend, I’m not forced by you or the Turchaninovs. Just a little - goodbye! I’ll go to Sam-Petersburg or, better yet, abroad, sell the box and buy two dozen men like you, if the need arises.

She boasted, but she still wants to show off her new purchase. Well, what a woman! She ran to the mirror and first of all attached the headband. - Oh, oh, what is it! - I have no patience - he twists and pulls his hair. I barely got out. And he’s itching. I put on the earrings and almost tore the earlobes. She put her finger in the ring - it was chained, she could barely pull it off with soap. The husband chuckles: this is obviously not the way to wear it!

And she thinks: “What kind of thing is this? I need to go to the city and show it to the master. He’ll fit it just right, as long as he doesn’t replace the stones.”

No sooner said than done. The next day she drove off in the morning. It's not far from the factory troika. I found out who the most reliable master is - and went to him. The master is very old, but he is good at his work. He looked at the box and asked who it was bought from. The lady said that she knew. The master looked at the box again, but did not look at the stones.

I won’t take it, he says, whatever you want, let’s do it. This is not the work of the masters here. We can't compete with them.

“Wasn’t it the green-eyed one they were chasing after? What a disaster!”

Then he translates again in his mind:

“What do I care? I’ll sell it to some rich fool. Let him toil, and I’ll have the money!” With this I left for Polevaya.

I arrived, and there was news: we received the news - the old master ordered us to live long. He pulled a trick on Paroteya, but death outwitted him - it took him and hit him. He never managed to get his son married, and now he has become the complete master. After a short time, Parotin’s wife received a letter. So and so, my dear, I’ll come along the spring water to show myself at the factories and take you away, and we’ll caulk your musician somewhere. Parotya somehow found out about this and started a fuss. It's a shame, you see, for him in front of the people. After all, he’s a clerk, and then look, his wife is taken away. I started drinking heavily. With employees, of course. They are happy to try for nothing. Once upon a time we feasted. One of these drinkers and boast:

A beauty grew up in our factory; you won’t soon find another like it.

Parotya asks:

Whose is this? Where does he live? Well, they told him and mentioned the box - it was in this family that your wife bought the box. Parotya says:

If only I could see, the drinkers found something to do (preposition - Ed.).

Let's go now and see if they installed the new hut properly. The family may be free, but they live on factory land. If something happens, you can press it.

Two or three went with this Parotei. They brought the chain, let’s measure it to see if Nastasya had stabbed herself in someone else’s estate, if the tops were coming out between the pillars. They are looking for, in a word. Then they go into the hut, and Tanya was just alone. Parotya looked at her and was lost for words. Well, I have never seen such beauty in any land. He stands there like a fool, and she sits there, keeping quiet, as if it’s none of her business. Then Parotya walked away a little and began asking:

What are you doing?

Tanya says:

I sew to order, and I showed my work.

“Can I place an order,” says Parotya?

Why not, if we agree on the price.

“Can you,” Parotya asks again, “embroider my pattern with silk?”

Tanya slowly looked at the button, and there the green-eyed woman gave her a sign - take the order! - and points a finger at himself. Tanya answers:

I won’t have my own pattern, but I have one woman in my mind wearing expensive stones and wearing a queen’s dress, I can embroider this one. But such work will not be cheap.

“Don’t worry about this,” he says, “I’ll pay even a hundred, even two hundred rubles, as long as there is a similarity with you.”

“In the face,” he answers, “there will be similarities, but the clothes are different.”

It won't break off here. You shouldn't be shaking your boots!

Well, Tanya embroidered that pattern. Parotya looks - oh my God! But that’s what she is, adorned with clothes and stones. Of course, he gives me three hundred-dollar tickets, but Tanya didn’t take two.

“We are not used to accepting gifts,” he says. We feed on labor.

Parotya ran home, admired the pattern, and kept it secret from his wife. He began to feast less, and began to delve into the factory business a little bit.

In the spring, a young gentleman came to the factories. I drove to Polevaya. The people were rounded up, a prayer service was served, and then in the manor’s house the tonsky-ringers (dancing, fun. - Ed.) went. Two barrels of wine were also rolled out to the people - to remember the old master and congratulate the new master. That means the seed has been done. All the Turchanin masters were experts at this. As soon as you fill the master’s glass with a dozen of your own, it will seem like God knows what kind of holiday, but in reality it will turn out that you’ve washed your last penny and it’s completely useless. The next day people went to work, and there was another feast in the master's house. And so it went. They’ll sleep as long as they can and then go on a party again. Well, there, they ride boats, ride horses into the forest, play music, you never know. And Parotya is drunk all the time. The master put the most dashing roosters with him on purpose - pump him up to capacity! Well, they try to serve the new master.

Even though Parotya is drunk, he senses where things are headed. He feels awkward in front of guests. He says at the table, in front of everyone:

It doesn’t matter to me that master Turchaninov wants to take my wife away from me. May you be lucky! I don't need one like that. That's who I have! - Yes, and he takes that silk patch out of his pocket. Everyone gasped, but Baba Parotina couldn’t even close her mouth. The master, too, had his eyes fixed on him. He became curious.

Who is she? - asks. Parotya, you know, laughs:

The table is full of gold - and I won’t say that!

Well, what can you say if the factory workers immediately recognized Tanya? One tries in front of the other - they explain to the master. Parotina woman with arms and legs:

What do you! What do you! Talk nonsense like that! Where did a factory girl get such a dress and expensive stones? And this husband brought the pattern from abroad. He showed it to me before the wedding. Now, from drunken eyes, you never know what will happen. Soon he won’t remember himself. Look, he's all swollen!

Parotya sees that his wife is not very nice, so he starts blabbering:

You are Stramina, Stramina! Why are you weaving braids (gossiping - Ed.), throwing sand in the master’s eyes! What pattern did I show you? Here they sewed it for me. The same girl they're talking about over there. About the dress - I won't lie - I don't know. You can wear whatever dress you want. And they had stones. Now you have them locked in your closet. I bought them myself for two thousand, but I couldn’t wear them. Apparently, the Cherkassy saddle does not suit the cow. The whole factory knows about the purchase!

As soon as the master heard about the stones, he immediately:

Come on, show me!

He was, I hear, a little smart, a little extravagant. In a word, heir. He had a strong passion for stones. He had nothing to show off - as they say, neither his height nor his voice - just stones. Wherever he hears about a good stone, he can buy it now. And he knew a lot about stones, even though he wasn’t very smart.

Baba Parotina sees that there is nothing to do, she brought the box. The master looked and immediately:

How many?

Call this girl we're talking about.

Why did they call you?

The master cannot say a word. I stared at her, and that was all. Then I finally found a conversation:

Your stones?

“They were ours, now they’re theirs,” and she pointed to Parotina’s wife.

“Mine now,” the master boasted.

This is up to you.

Do you want me to give it back?

There is nothing to give.

Well, can you try them on yourself? I would like to see how these stones look on a person.

“This,” Tanya answers, “is possible.”

Have you looked? Will? It’s not easy for me to stand here - I have work. The master is here in front of everyone and says:

Marry me. Agree?

Tanya just grinned:

It would be inappropriate for a master to say such a thing. - She took off her clothes and left

Only the master does not lag behind. The next day he came to make a match. He asks and prays to Nastasya: give up your daughter for me.

Nastasya says:

I don’t take away her will, as she wants, but in my opinion it doesn’t fit.

Tanya listened and listened and said:

That's it, that's it... I heard that in the royal palace there is a chamber lined with malachite from the spoils of the booty. Now, if you show me the queen in this chamber, then I will marry you.

The master, of course, agrees to everything. Now he’s starting to get ready for Sam-Petersburg and is calling Tanya with him - he says, I’ll give you the horses. And Tanya answers:

According to our ritual, the bride does not ride to the wedding on the groom’s horses, and we are still nobody. Then we’ll talk about it once you’ve fulfilled your promise.

When, he asks, will you be in Sam-Petersburg?

“I will certainly go to the Intercession,” he says. Don’t worry about it, but for now, leave here.

The master left, of course he didn’t take Parotina’s wife, he doesn’t even look at her. As soon as I came home to Sam-Petersburg, let’s spread the word all over the city about the stones and about my bride. I showed the box to many people. Well, the bride was very curious to see. For the fall, the master prepared an apartment for Tanya, brought all sorts of dresses, shoes, and she sent the news - here she lives with such and such a widow on the very outskirts. The master, of course, is going there right away:

What do you! Is it a good idea to live here? The apartment is ready, first grade! And Tanya answers:

I'm fine here.

The rumor about the stones and Turchaninov’s bride reached the queen. She says:

Let Turchaninov show me his bride. There are a lot of lies about her.

Master to Tanyushka, they say, we need to get ready. Sew an outfit so that you can wear stones from a malachite box into the palace. Tanya answers:

It’s not your sadness about the outfit, but I’ll take the stones to keep. Yes, look, don’t try to send horses after me. I'll use mine. Just wait for me at the porch, in the palace.

The master thinks - where did she get the horses from? Where is the palace dress? - But I still didn’t dare ask.

So they began to gather for the palace. Everyone rides up on horses, wearing silks and velvets. Turchaninov's master hangs around the porch early in the morning - waiting for his bride. Others are also curious to look at her - they stopped immediately. And Tanya put on her stones, tied herself with a scarf in the factory style, threw on her fur coat and walked quietly. Well, people - where did this come from? - the shaft is falling behind her. Tanyushka approached the palace, but the royal lackeys did not let her in - it was not allowed, they say, because of the factory workers. Turchaninov's master saw Tanyushka from afar, but he was ashamed in front of his own people that his bride was on foot, and even in such a fur coat, he took it and hid. Tanya then opened her fur coat, the footmen looked - what a dress! The queen doesn't have that! - they let me in right away. And when Tanya took off her scarf and fur coat, everyone around gasped:

Whose is this? Which lands is the queen? And master Turchaninov is right there.

My bride,” he says.

Tanya looked at him sternly:

We'll see about that! Why did you deceive me - you didn’t wait at the porch?

Master back and forth - it was a mistake. Excuse me please.

They went to the royal chambers, where they were ordered. Tanya looks - it’s not the right place. Turchaninova asked the master even more sternly:

What kind of deception is this? It was told to you that in that chamber, which is lined with malachite from woodwork! - And she walked through the palace, just like at home. And senators, generals and others follow her.

What, they say, is this? Apparently, it was ordered there.

The queen shouts:

Come on, show me this unauthorized bride - Turchaninov’s bride!

Tanya heard this, her eyebrows furrowed, and she said to the master:

This is something else I came up with! I told the queen to show me, and you arranged to show me to her. Cheating again! I don't want to see you anymore! Get your stones!

With this word she leaned against the malachite wall and melted. All that remains is that the stones sparkle on the wall, as if stuck to the places where the head, neck, and arms were.

Everyone, of course, was scared, and the queen fell unconscious on the floor. They started fussing and started lifting. Then, when the commotion subsided, the friends said to Turchaninov:

Pick up some stones! They'll steal it quickly. Not just any place - a palace! They know the price here!

Turchaninov and let's grab those stones. The one he grabs will curl up into a droplet. Sometimes the drop is pure, like a tear, sometimes it’s yellow, and sometimes it’s thick, like blood. So I didn’t collect anything. He looks and sees a button lying on the floor. From bottle glass to a simple edge. Not a big deal at all. Out of grief, he grabbed her. As soon as he took it in his hand, in this button, as in a large mirror, a green-eyed beauty in a malachite dress, all decorated with expensive stones, burst out laughing:

Oh, you crazy slanting hare! Should you take me? Are you my match?

After that, the master lost his last mind, but did not throw away the button. No, no, and he looks at her, and there everything is the same: the green-eyed one is standing there, laughing and saying offensive words. Out of grief, the master let's copy, he got into debt, and almost our factory goods were auctioned off under him.

And Parotya, when he was suspended, went to the taverns. I drank to the point of drinking, and the patret is that silken shore.

No one knows where this pattern went afterwards.

Parotin’s wife didn’t profit either: you’ll get the loan paper if all the iron and copper are pledged!

From that time on, there was not a word from our factory about Tanya. How it wasn't.

Nastasya grieved, of course, but not too much either. Tanya, you see, at least she was a caretaker for the family, but Nastasya is still like a stranger.

The bachelor did not forget longer. He kept trampling under Nastasya’s windows. They waited to see if Tanya would appear at the window, but they never did.

Then, of course, they got married, but no, no, they remember:

That's what a girl we had at the factory! You won't see another one like this in your life.

Moreover, after this incident, a note came out. They said that the Mistress of the Copper Mountain began to double: people saw two girls in malachite dresses at once.

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Copper Mountain Mistress

Two of our factory workers went to look at the grass. And their mowing was far away. Somewhere behind Severushka.

It was a holiday day, and it was hot - passion. Parun is clean. And both of them were timid in grief, at Gumeshki that is. Malachite ore was mined, as well as blue tit. Well, when a kinglet with a coil came in, there was a thread that would fit.

He was a single young guy, unmarried, and his eyes began to turn green. The other one is older. This one is completely ruined. There is green in the eyes, and the cheeks seem to have turned green. And the man kept coughing.

It's good in the forest. The birds sing and rejoice, the earth soars, the spirit is light. Listen, they were exhausted. We reached the Krasnogorsk mine. Iron ore was mined there back then. So our guys lay down on the grass under the rowan tree and immediately fell asleep. Only suddenly the young man—someone pushed him in the side—woke up. He looks, and in front of him, on a pile of ore near a large stone, a woman is sitting. Her back is to the guy, and you can see from her braid that she’s a girl. The braid is gray-black and doesn’t dangle like our girls’, but sticks straight to the back. At the end of the tape are either red or green. They shine through and ring subtly, like sheet copper. The guy marvels at the scythe, and then he notices further. Wench small in stature, she looks good and is such a cool wheel - she won’t sit still. He will lean forward, look exactly under his feet, then lean back again, bend to one side, to the other. He jumps to his feet, waves his arms, then bends down again. In a word, artut girl. You can hear him babbling something, but in what way he speaks it is unknown, and with whom he speaks is not visible. Just a laugh. Apparently she's having fun.

The guy was about to say a word, when suddenly he was hit on the back of the head.

- My mother, but this is the Mistress herself! Her clothes are something. How did I not notice it right away? She averted her eyes with her oblique.

And the clothes are truly such that you won’t find anything else in the world. Made of silk, hear me, malachite dress. There is such a variety. It’s a stone, but it’s like silk to the eye, even if you stroke it with your hand.

“Here,” the guy thinks, “trouble! As soon as I could get away with it before I noticed.” From the old people, you see, he heard that this Mistress - a malachite girl - loves to play tricks on people.

Just when she thought something like that, she looked back. He looks at the guy cheerfully, bares his teeth and says jokingly:

“What, Stepan Petrovich, are you staring at the girl’s beauty for nothing?” They take money for a look. Come closer. Let's talk a little.

The guy was scared, of course, but he didn’t show it. Attached. Even though she is a secret force, she is still a girl. Well, he’s a guy, which means he’s ashamed to be shy in front of a girl.

“I have no time,” he says, “to talk.” Without that we slept and went to look at the grass.

She chuckles and then says:

- I'll play a tune for you. Go, I say, there’s something to do.

Well, the guy sees that there is nothing to do. I went to her, and she loomed with her hand, go around the ore on the other side. He walked around and saw that there were countless lizards here. And everyone, listen, is different. Some, for example, are green, others are blue, which fade into blue, or like clay or sand with gold specks. Some, like glass or mica, shine, while others, like faded grass, and some are again decorated with patterns.

The girl laughs.

“Don’t part,” he says, “my army, Stepan Petrovich.” You are so big and heavy, but they are small for me. “And she clapped her hands together, and the lizards ran away and gave way.”

So the guy came closer, stopped, and she clapped her hands again and said, all laughing:

“Now you have nowhere to step.” If you crush my servant, there will be trouble.

He looked at his feet, and there wasn’t much ground there. All the lizards huddled together in one place, and the floor became patterned under our feet. Stepan looks - fathers, this is copper ore! All sorts and well polished. And there is mica, and blende, and all sorts of glitter that resemble malachite.

- Well, now you recognize me, Stepanushko? - asks the malachite girl, and she bursts into laughter.

Then, a little later, he says:

- Don't be scared. I won't do anything bad to you.

The guy felt miserable that the girl was mocking him and even saying such words. He became very angry and even shouted:

- Who should I be afraid of, if I am timid in grief!

“Okay,” answers the malachite girl. “That’s exactly what I need, someone who’s not afraid of anyone.” Tomorrow, as you descend the mountain, your factory clerk will be here, you tell him, yes, look, don’t forget the words:

“The owner of Copper Mountain, they say, ordered you, the stuffy goat, to get out of the Krasnogorsk mine. If you still break this iron cap of mine, I’ll dump all the copper in Gumeshki there for you, so there’s no way to get it.”

She said this and squinted:

– Do you understand, Stepanushko? In grief, you say, you are timid, you are not afraid of anyone? So tell the clerk as I told you, and now go and don’t say anything to the one who is with you. He is a frightened man, why bother him and involve him in this matter. And so she told the blue tit to help him a little.

And she clapped her hands again, and all the lizards ran away. She also jumped to her feet, grabbed a stone with her hand, jumped up and, like a lizard, also ran along the stone. Instead of arms and legs, its paws were green, its tail stuck out, there was a black stripe halfway down its spine, and its head was human. She ran to the top, looked back and said:

– Don’t forget, Stepanushko, as I said. She told you, the stuffy goat, to get out of Krasnogorka. If you do it my way, I’ll marry you!

The guy even spat in the heat of the moment:

- Ugh, what trash! So that I marry a lizard.

And she sees him spitting and laughs.

“Okay,” he shouts, “we’ll talk later.” Maybe you'll think about it?

And immediately over the hill, only a green tail flashed.

The guy was left alone. The mine is quiet. You can only hear someone else snoring behind a pile of ore. Woke him up. They went to their mowing, looked at the grass, returned home in the evening, and Stepan had one thing on his mind: what should he do? To say such words to the clerk is no small matter, but he was also, and it’s true, stuffy—there was some kind of rot in his gut, they say. Not to say, it’s also scary. She is the Mistress. What kind of ore can he throw into the blende? Then do your homework. And worse than that, it’s a shame to show yourself off as a braggart in front of a girl.

I thought and thought and laughed:

“I wasn’t, I’ll do as she ordered.”

The next morning, as people gathered around the trigger drum, the factory clerk came up. Everyone, of course, took off their hats, remained silent, and Stepan came up and said:

“I saw the Mistress of the Copper Mountain last night, and she ordered me to tell you. She tells you, you stuffy goat, to get out of Krasnogorka. If you spoil this iron cap for her, she will dump all the copper on Gumeshki there, so that no one can get it.

The clerk even began to shake his mustache.

-What are you doing? Drunk or crazy? What Mistress? Who are you saying these words to? Yes, I will rot you in grief!

“Your will,” says Stepan, “and that’s the only way I was told.”

“Whip him,” the clerk shouts, “and take him down the mountain and chain him in the face!” And so as not to die, give him dog oatmeal and ask for lessons without any concessions. Just a little - tear mercilessly!

Well, of course, they flogged the guy and went up the hill. The mine overseer, also not the last dog, took him to the slaughter - it couldn’t be worse. It’s wet here, and there’s no good ore, I should have given up long ago. Here they chained Stepan to a long chain, so that he could work. It is known what time it was - the fortress. They made fun of the person in every possible way. The warden also says:

- Cool off here for a bit. And the lesson will cost you so much pure malachite - and he assigned it completely inappropriately.

Nothing to do. As soon as the warden left, Stepan began waving his stick, but the guy was still agile. He looks - okay. This is how malachite falls, no matter who throws it with their hands. And the water left somewhere from the face. It became dry.

“That’s good,” he thinks. Apparently the Mistress remembered me.”

I was just thinking, and suddenly there was a light. He looks, and the Mistress is here, in front of him.

“Well done,” says Stepan Petrovich. You can attribute it to honor. I wasn’t afraid of the stuffy goat. Well told him. Let's go, apparently, to look at my dowry. I also don’t go back on my word.

And she frowned, it just didn’t feel good for her. She clapped her hands, the lizards came running, the chain was removed from Stepan, and the Mistress gave them the order:

– Break the lesson here in half. And so that there is malachite for selection, of the silk variety. “Then he says to Stepan: “Well, groom, let’s go look at my dowry.”

And so, let's go. She is in front, Stepan is behind her. Where she goes, everything is open to her. How large the rooms became underground, but their walls were different. Either all green, or yellow with gold specks. Which again have copper flowers. There are also blue ones and azure ones. In a word, it is decorated, which cannot be said. And the dress on her – on the Mistress – changes. One minute it shines like glass, then suddenly it fades, and then it sparkles like a diamond scree or turns reddish like copper, then again it shimmers like green silk. They're going, they're coming, she stopped.

And Stepan sees a huge room, and in it there are beds, tables, stools - all made of king copper. The walls are malachite with diamond, and the ceiling is dark red under blackening, and on it there are copper flowers.

“Let’s sit,” he says, “here, and talk.”

They sat down on stools, and the malachite girl asked:

-Have you seen my dowry?

“I saw it,” says Stepan.

- Well, how about marriage now?

But Stepan doesn’t know how to answer. Listen, he had a fiancée. Good girl, one orphan. Well, of course, compared to malachite, how can she compare in beauty? A simple person, an ordinary person. Stepan hesitated and hesitated, and then said:

“Your dowry is fit for a king, but I am a working man, a simple one.”

“You,” he says, “are a dear friend, don’t wobble.” Tell me straight, are you marrying me or not? – And she herself completely frowned.

Well, Stepan answered directly:

- I can’t, because another one was promised.

He said so and thinks: he’s on fire now. And she seemed happy.

“Well done,” says Stepanushko. I praised you for being a clerk, and for this I will praise you twice as much. You didn’t get enough of my wealth, you didn’t exchange your Nastenka for a stone girl. – And the guy’s fiancee’s name was probably Nastya. “Here,” he says, “is a gift for your bride,” and hands over a large malachite box. And there, listen, every woman’s device. Earrings, rings and other things that not even every rich bride has.

“How,” asks the guy, “will I get up to the top with this place?”

- Don't be sad about it. Everything will be arranged, and I will free you from the clerk, and you will live comfortably with your young wife, but here’s my story for you - don’t think about me later. This will be my third test for you. Now let's eat a little.

She clapped her hands again, the lizards came running - the table was set full. She fed him good cabbage soup, fish pie, lamb, porridge and other things that are required according to the Russian rite. Then he says:

- Well, goodbye, Stepan Petrovich, don’t think about me. - And there are tears right there. She put her hand up, and the tears drip-drop and freeze on her hand like grains. Just a handful. - Here you go, take it for a living. People give a lot of money for these stones. You will be rich. - And gives it to him.

The stones are cold, but the hand, listen, is hot, as if it were alive, and shakes a little.

Stepan accepted the stones, bowed low and asked:

-Where should I go? - And he himself also became gloomy. She pointed with her finger, and a passage opened in front of him, like an adit, and it was light in it, like during the day. Stepan walked along this adit - again he saw enough of all the land riches and came just to his slaughter. He arrived, the adit closed, and everything became as before. The lizard came running, put a chain on his leg, and the box with gifts suddenly became small, Stepan hid it in his bosom. Soon the mine overseer approached. He wanted to laugh, but he sees that Stepan has a lot of tricks on top of the lesson, and malachite is a selection, a variety of varieties. “What,” he thinks, “is this thing? Where does it come from?" He climbed into the face, looked at everything and said:

- In this face, anyone will break as much as they like. - And he took Stepan to another pit, and put his nephew in this one.

The next day, Stepan began to work, and the malachite kept flying off, and even the wren began to fall with a coil, and with his nephew, tell me, there is nothing good, everything is just a shambles and a snag. It was then that the warden took notice of the matter. He ran to the clerk. Anyway.

“No other way,” he says, “Stepan soul evil spirits sold.

The clerk says to this:

“It’s his business to whom he sold his soul, but we need to get our own benefit.” Promise him that we will release him into the wild, just let him find a malachite block worth a hundred pounds.

The clerk still ordered Stepan to be unchained and gave the following order: to stop work on Krasnogorka.

“Who,” he says, “knows him?” Maybe this fool was talking out of his mind then. And the ore and copper went there, but the cast iron was damaged.

The warden announced to Stepan what was required of him, and he replied:

- Who would refuse freedom? I’ll try, but if I find it, that’s my happiness.

Stepan soon found them such a block. They dragged her upstairs. They are proud - that’s what we are, but they didn’t give Stepan any freedom. They wrote to the master about the block, and he came from, hey, Sam-Petersburg. He found out how it happened and calls Stepan over.

“That’s what,” he says, “I give you my noble word to set you free if you find me such malachite stones that, that means, I can cut out pillars from them no less than five fathoms across the valley.”

Stepan answers:

“I’ve already been spun around.” I am not a scientist. First, write freely, then I will try, and we’ll see what comes out.

The master, of course, screamed, stamped his feet, and Stepan said one thing:

- I almost forgot - register my bride’s freedom too, but what kind of order is this - I myself will be free, and my wife will be in the fortress.

The master sees that the guy is not soft. I wrote him a document.

“Here,” he says, “just try to look.”

And Stepan is all his:

- It’s like looking for happiness.

Of course, Stepan found it. What does he need if he knew the whole inside of the mountain and the Mistress herself helped him. They cut out the pillars they needed from this malachite, dragged them upstairs, and the master sent them to the butt of the most important church in Sam-Petersburg. And the block that Stepan first found is still in our city, they say. How rare it is to take care of it.

From that time on, Stepan was released, and after that all the wealth in Gumeshki disappeared. There are a lot of blue tits coming, but more of them are snags. It became unheard of to hear about the bead with a coil, and the malachite left, and water began to be added. So from that time on, Gumeshki began to decline, and then they were completely flooded. They said that it was the Mistress who was burning for the pillars, hear that they were placed in the church. And she doesn’t need it at all.

Stepan also had no happiness in his life. He got married, started a family, furnished the house, everything was as it should be. He should have lived smoothly and been happy, but he became gloomy and deteriorated in health. So it melted before our eyes.

The sick man came up with the idea of getting a shotgun and got into the habit of hunting. And yet, hey, he goes to the Krasnogorsk mine, but doesn’t bring the spoils home. In the autumn he left and that was the end. Now he’s gone, now he’s gone... Where did he go? They shot it down, of course, people, let's look for it. And hey, hey, he’s lying dead in the mine next to a high stone, he’s smiling evenly, and his little gun is lying to the side, unfired. The people who were the first to come running said that they saw a green lizard near the dead man, and such a big one, the likes of which had never been seen in our area. It’s as if she’s sitting over a dead man, with her head raised, and her tears just falling. As people ran closer, she was on the stone, and that was all they saw. And when they brought the dead man home and began to wash him, they looked: he had one hand tightly clasped, and green grains were barely visible from it. Just a handful. Then one person who knew happened, looked at the grains from the side and said:

- But it’s a copper emerald! A rare stone, dear. There is a whole wealth left for you, Nastasya. Where did he get these stones from?

Nastasya, his wife, explains that the dead man never spoke about any such stones. I gave her the box when I was still a fiance. A large box, malachite. There is a lot of goodness in her, but there are no such stones. I haven't seen it.

They began to take those stones out of Stepan’s dead hand, and they crumbled into dust. They never found out at that time where Stepan got them from. Then we dug around Krasnogorka. Well, ore and ore, brown, with a copper sheen. Then someone found out that it was Stepan who had the tears of the Mistress of the Copper Mountain. He didn’t sell them to anyone, hey, he kept them secretly from his own people, and he died with them. A?

This means what a Mistress of the Copper Mountain she is!

For the bad to meet her, it is grief, and for the good, there is little joy.

Malachite Box

Nastasya grew up as an orphan, she was not used to this kind of wealth, and she was quite a fan of fashion. From the first years I lived with Stepan, I wore it, of course, from this box. It just didn't suit her. He’ll put the ring on... It fits exactly right, it doesn’t pinch, it doesn’t roll off, but when he goes to church or on a visit somewhere, he gets dirty. Like a chained finger, in the end it will turn blue. He will hang his earrings - worse than that. It will tighten your ears so much that your lobes will swell. And to take it on your hand is no heavier than those that Nastasya always carried. Busks in six or seven rows only tried them on once. It’s like ice around your neck and they don’t warm up at all. She didn’t show those beads to people at all. It was a shame.

- Look, they’ll say what a queen they’ve found in Polevoy!

Stepan also did not force his wife to carry from this box. Once he even said:

Nastasya put the box in the very bottom chest, where canvases and other things are kept in reserve.

- Look, don’t waste this box for nothing. It costs more than thousands.

He, this man, was a scientist, also a free man. Previously, he wore smart clothes, but he was removed: he supposedly weakened the people. Well, he didn’t disdain wine. He was also a good tavern plug, so be remembered, the little head is dead. And he is correct in everything. Write a request, wash off a sample, look at the signs - he did everything according to his conscience, not like others, just to rip off half a pint. Anyone and everyone will bring a glass to him as a festive occasion. So he lived at our factory until his death. He ate around the people.

Nastasya heard from her husband that this dandy is correct and smart in business, even though he has a passion for wine. Well, I listened to him.

“Okay,” he says, “I’ll save it for a rainy day.” - And she put the box in its old place.

They buried Stepan, the Sorochins saluted with honor. Nastasya is a woman in wealth and wealth, and they began to woo her. And she is a smart woman, she tells everyone one thing:

“Even though we’re second in gold, we’re still stepfathers to all the timid kids.”

Well, we are behind in time.

Stepan left good provision for his family. A clean house, a horse, a cow, complete furnishings. Nastasya is a hard-working woman, the kids are timid, they don’t live very well. They live for a year, they live for two, they live for three. Well, they have become poor after all. How can one woman with young children manage a household? You also have to get a penny somewhere. At least some salt. Relatives are here and let Nastasya sing in her ears:

- Sell the box! What do you need it for? What good is it to lie in vain? Everything is one and Tanya won’t wear it when she grows up. There are some things over there! Only bars and merchants can buy. With our belt you won’t be able to wear an eco-friendly seat. And people would give money. Distributions for you.

In a word, they are slandering. And the buyer swooped in like a raven on a bone. All of them are merchants. Some give a hundred rubles, some give two hundred.

“We feel sorry for your robbers, and, due to your widowhood, we make allowances for you.”

Well, they're trying to fool a woman, but they hit the wrong one.

- Mommy, don’t sell it! Mommy, don't sell it! It’s better for me to go among the people and save my dad’s memo.

“It’s no different that this one fell out of your hands, Stepan.” Who has just been born! She herself is black and fable, and her eyes are green. It’s like she doesn’t look like our girls at all.

Stepan used to joke:

- It’s no surprise that she’s black. My father hid in the ground from an early age. And that the eyes are green is also not surprising. You never know, I stuffed master Turchaninov with malachite. This is the reminder I still have.

So I called this girl Memo. “Come on, my reminder!” And when she happened to buy something, she would always bring something blue or green.

So that little girl grew up in people’s minds. Exactly and in fact, the horsetail fell out of the festive belt - it can be seen far away. And although she was not very fond of strangers, everyone was Tanyushka and Tanyushka. The most envious grandmothers, and they admired. Well, what a beauty! Everyone's nice. One mother sighed:

- Beauty is beauty, but not ours. Exactly who replaced the girl for me.

According to Stepan, this girl was killing herself. She was all clean, her face lost weight, only her eyes remained. Mother came up with the idea to give Tanya that malachite box - let him have some fun. Even if she’s small, she’s still a girl—from a young age, it’s flattering for them to make fun of themselves. Tanya started taking these things apart. And it’s a miracle - the one he tries on, he fits it too. Mother didn’t even know why, but this one knows everything. And he also says:

- Mommy, what a good gift my dad gave! The warmth from it, as if you were sitting on a warm bed, and someone was stroking you softly.

Nastasya sewed the patches herself; she remembers how her fingers would become numb, her ears would hurt, and her neck could not get warm. So he thinks: “This is not without reason. Oh, for good reason!” - Hurry up and put the box back in the chest. Only Tanya has since then asked:

- Mommy, let me play with my dad’s gift!

When Nastasya gets strict, well, like a mother’s heart, she will take pity, take out the box, and only punish:

– Don’t break anything!

Then, when Tanya grew up, she began to take out the box herself. The mother and the older boys will go to mowing or somewhere else, Tanya will stay behind to do housework. First, of course, he will manage that the mother punished him. Well, wash the cups and spoons, shake off the tablecloth, wave a broom in the hut, give food to the chickens, take a look at the stove. He’ll get everything done as quickly as possible, and for the sake of the box. By that time, only one of the upper chests remained, and even that one had become light. Tanya slides it onto a stool, takes out the box and sorts through the stones, admires it, and tries it on for herself.

- Oh, fathers, I’m blind! Oh, blind! - and he rubs his eyes.

Tanya sees that something is wrong with the man and begins to ask:

- How did you come to us, uncle, why did you take the ax?

And he groans and rubs his eyes. Tanya took pity on him - she scooped up a ladle of water and wanted to serve it, but the man just shied away with his back to the door.

- Like the sun hit. I thought I would go completely blind. From the heat, perhaps.

Tanya didn’t tell her neighbors about the ax and the stones. They think:

“It’s a waste of time. Maybe she herself forgot to lock the gate, so a passer-by came in, and then something happened to him. You never know."

Still, they didn’t let the passerby go until Nastasya. When she and her sons arrived, this man told her what he had told his neighbors. Nastasya sees that everything is safe, she didn’t get involved. That man left, and so did the neighbors.

Then Tanya told her mother how it happened. Then Nastasya realized that he had come for the box, but apparently it was not easy to take it. And she thinks:

“We still need to protect her more tightly.”

She took it quietly from Tanya and the others and buried that box in the golbets.

All the family left again. Tanya missed the box, but there was one. It seemed bitter to Tanya, but then suddenly she felt a warmth. What is this thing? Where? I looked around, and there was light coming from under the floor. Tanya was scared - was it a fire? I looked into the golbets, there was light in one corner. She grabbed a bucket and wanted to splash it, but there was no fire and there was no smell of smoke. She dug around in that place and saw a box. I opened it, and the stones became even more beautiful. So they burn with different lights, and the light from them is like in the sun. Tanya didn’t even drag the box into the hut. Here in the golbtse I played my fill.

– If it fits around the world, then I’ll sell it.

“Can’t you, mistress, have a day or two to rest?” They don’t carry their legs, and they can’t walk close.

At first Nastasya wondered if she had been sent for the box again, but then she finally let her go.

- There is no space for space. If you don’t lie there, go and take it with you. Only this piece is an orphan one. In the morning - onion with kvass, in the evening kvass with onions, everything and change. You are not afraid of becoming thin, so you are welcome to live as long as you need to.

And the wanderer has already put her bag down, put her knapsack on the stove and takes off her shoes. Nastasya didn’t like this, but kept silent.

“Look, you ignorant one! We didn’t have time to greet her, but she finally took off her shoes and untied her knapsack.”

The woman unfastened her purse and beckoned Tanya to her with her finger:

“Come on, child, look at my handiwork.” If he takes a look, I’ll teach you... Apparently, you’ll have a keen eye for it!

Tanya came up, and the woman handed her a small fly, the ends sewn with silk. And such and such, hey, a hot pattern on that fly that just became lighter and warmer in the hut.

Tanya's eyes glared, and the woman chuckled.

- Did you look at my handicrafts, daughter? Do you want me to learn it?

“I want to,” he says.

Nastasya got so angry:

- And forget to think! There’s nothing to buy salt with, but you came up with the idea of sewing with silks! Supplies, go figure, cost money.

“Don’t worry about that, mistress,” says the wanderer. “If my daughter has an idea, she will have supplies.” I’ll leave her the bread and salt for yours—it’ll last for a long time. And then you will see for yourself. They pay money for our skill. We don’t give away our work for nothing. We have a piece.

Here Nastasya had to give in.

“If you spare enough supplies, you won’t learn anything.” Let him learn as long as the concept is enough. I'll thank you.

“I found myself a new family. She won’t approach her mother, but she’s stuck to a tramp!”

“We have,” he says, “we have my father’s dear memento—a malachite box.” That's where the stones are! I could look at them forever.

– Will you show me, daughter? - asks the woman.

Tanya didn’t even think that something was wrong.

“I’ll show you,” he says, “when none of the family is home.”

After such an hour, Tanyushka turned around and called that woman to the cabbage. Tanya took out the box and showed it, and the woman looked at it a little and said:

“Put it on yourself and you’ll see better.”

Well, Tanya - not the right word - began to put it on, and she, you know, praised it.

- Okay, daughter, okay! It just needs to be corrected a little.

She came closer and started poking the stones with her finger. The one that touches will light up differently. Tanya can see other things, but not others. After this the woman says:

- Stand up, daughter, straight up.

Tanya stood up, and the woman began to slowly stroke her hair and her back. She ironed everything, and she herself instructs:

“I’ll make you turn around, so don’t look back at me.” Look ahead, take note of what will happen, and don’t say anything. Well, turn around!

Tanya turned around - in front of her was a room the likes of which she had never seen. It's not the church, it's not like that. The ceilings are high on pillars made of pure malachite. The walls are also lined with malachite the height of a man, and a malachite pattern runs along the upper cornice. Standing right in front of Tanya, as if in the mirror, is a beauty the likes of which they only talk about in fairy tales. Hair like night and eyes green. And she is all decorated with expensive stones, and her dress is made of green velvet with iridescence. And so this dress is made, just like the queens in the pictures. What does it hold on to? Out of shame, our factory workers would burn to death to wear something like that in public, but this green-eyed girl stands there calmly, as if that’s the way it should be. There are a lot of people in that room. They are dressed like a lord, and everyone is wearing gold and merit. Some have it hung on the front, some have it sewn on the back, and some have it on all sides. Apparently, the highest authorities. And their women are right there. Also bare-armed, bare-breasted, hung with stones. But where do they care about the green-eyed one! None hold a candle.

Nastasya, Stepanova's widow, still has a malachite box. With every feminine device. There are rings, earrings and other things according to women's rites. The Mistress of the Copper Mountain herself gave Stepan this box when he was still planning to get married.
Nastasya grew up as an orphan, she was not used to this kind of wealth, and she was not much of a fan of fashion. From the first years I lived with Stepan, I wore it, of course, from this box. It just didn't suit her. He’ll put the ring on... It fits exactly right, doesn’t pinch, doesn’t roll off, but when he goes to church or on a visit somewhere, he gets dirty. Like a chained finger, in the end the nali (even - Ed.) will turn blue. He'll hang his earrings - worse than that. It will tighten your ears so much that your lobes will swell. And to take it on your hand is no heavier than those that Nastasya always carried. Busks in six or seven rows only tried them on once. It’s like ice around your neck, and they don’t warm up at all. She didn’t show those beads to people at all. It was a shame.
- Look, they’ll say what a queen they’ve found in Polevoy!
Stepan also did not force his wife to carry from this box. Once he even said:
- Take it somewhere out of harm’s way. Nastasya put the box in the very bottom chest, where canvases and other things are kept in reserve. As Stepan died and the stones ended up in his dead hand, Nastasya had to (had to - Ed.) show that box to strangers. And the one who knows, who told about Stepanov’s stones, says to Nastasya, then, as the people subsided:
- Just make sure you don’t waste this box for nothing. It costs more than thousands.
He, this man, was a scientist, also a free man. Previously, he wore dandies (mining masters - Ed.), but he was suspended; It weakens the people. Well, he didn’t disdain wine. He was also a good tavern plug, so be remembered, the little head is dead. And he is correct in everything. Write a request, wash off a sample, look at the signs - he did everything according to his conscience, not like others, just to rip off half a pint. Anyone and everyone will bring a glass to him as a festive occasion. So he lived at our factory until his death. He ate around the people.
Nastasya heard from her husband that this dandy is correct and smart in business, even though he has a passion for wine. Well, I listened to him.
“Okay,” he says, “I’ll save it for a rainy day.” - And she put the box in its old place.
They buried Stepan, the Sorochins saluted with honor. Nastasya is a woman in the juice, and with wealth, they began to take advantage of her. And she, a smart woman, tells everyone one thing:
- Even though the golden one is second, we are still stepfathers to all the timid kids.
Well, we are behind in time.
Stepan left good provision for his family. A clean house, a horse, a cow, complete furnishings. Nastasya is a hard-working woman, the timid little ones (obedient - Ed.), not too crazy (not hard - Ed.) live. They live for a year, they live for two, they live for three. Well, they got poor after all. How can one woman with young children manage a household? You also have to get a penny somewhere. At least some salt. Relatives are here and let Nastasya sing in her ears:
- Sell the box! What do you need it for? What good is there to lie in vain! Everything is one and Tanya won’t wear it when she grows up. There are some things over there! Only bars and merchants can buy. With our rags (rags - Ed.) you can’t wear an eco-friendly place. And people would give money. Distributions (help - Ed.) for you.
In a word, they are slandering. And the buyer swooped in like a raven on a bone. All from merchants. Some give a hundred rubles, some give two hundred.
- We feel sorry for your robbers, we make a descent into widowhood.
Well, they're trying to fool a woman, but they hit the wrong one. Nastasya remembered well what the old dandy told her, he wouldn’t sell it for such a trifle. It's also a pity. After all, it was a groom’s gift, a husband’s memory. And what’s more, her youngest girl burst into tears and asked:
- Mommy, don’t sell it! Mommy, don't sell it! It’s better for me to go among the people and save my dad’s memo.
From Stepan, you see, there are only three little kids left.
Two boys. They are timid, but this one, as they say, is neither like mother nor father. Even when Stepanova was a little girl, people marveled at this girl. Not just the girls and women, but also the men said to Stepan:
- Surely this one, Stepan, fell out of your tassels (the beautiful girl is compared to a garusinka that fell out of the tassels of a belt that was previously worn by both men and women in the Urals. - V.A. Bazhova). Who has just been born! She herself is black and pretty (pretty. - Ed.), and her eyes are green. It’s like she doesn’t look like our girls at all.
Stepan used to joke:
- It’s no surprise that she’s black. From an early age, my father hid in the ground (scraped in the ground. - Ed.). And that the eyes are green is also not surprising. You never know, I stuffed master Turchaninov with malachite. This is the reminder I still have.
So I called this girl Memo. - Come on, my reminder! - And when she happened to buy something, she would always bring something blue or green.
So that little girl grew up in people’s minds. Exactly and in fact, the horsetail fell out of the festive belt - it can be seen far away. And although she was not very fond of strangers, everyone was Tanyushka and Tanyushka. The most envious grandmothers admired it. Well, what a beauty! Everyone's nice. One mother sighed:
- Beauty is beauty, but not ours. Exactly who replaced the girl for me.
According to Stepan, this girl was killing herself. She was all clean, her face lost weight, only her eyes remained. Mother came up with the idea of giving Tanya that malachite box - let him have some fun. Even if she’s small, she’s still a girl—from a young age, it’s flattering for them to make fun of themselves. Tanya started taking these things apart. And it’s a miracle - the one she tries on, she also fits it. Mother didn’t even know why, but this one knows everything. And he also says:
- Mommy, what a good gift my dad gave! The warmth from it, as if you were sitting on a warm bed, and someone was stroking you softly.
Nastasya sewed the patches herself; she remembers how her fingers would become numb, her ears would hurt, and her neck could not get warm. So he thinks: “It’s not without reason. Oh, it’s not without reason!” - Yes, hurry up and put the box back in the chest. Only Tanya has since then asked:
- Mommy, let me play with my dad’s gift!
When Nastasya gets strict, well, a mother’s heart, she will regret it, take out the box, and only punish:
- Don't break anything!
Then, when Tanya grew up, she began to take out the box herself. The mother and the older boys will go to mowing or somewhere else, Tanya will stay behind to do housework. First, of course, he will manage that the mother punished him. Well, wash the cups and spoons, shake off the tablecloth, wave a broom in the hut, give food to the chickens, look at the stove. He’ll get everything done as quickly as possible, and for the sake of the box. By that time, only one of the upper chests remained, and even that one had become light. Tanya slides it onto a stool, takes out the box and sorts through the stones, admires it, and tries it on for herself.
Once a hitnik got into her place (thief - Ed.). Either he buried himself in the fence early in the morning, or then slipped through unnoticed, but none of the neighbors saw him pass along the street. He's an unknown man, but apparently someone brought him up to date and explained the whole procedure.
After Nastasya left, Tanyushka ran around doing a lot of housework and climbed into the hut to play with her father’s pebbles. She put on the headband and hung the earrings. At this time, this hitnik puffed into the hut. Tanya looked around - there was an unfamiliar man on the threshold, with an axe. And the ax is theirs. In the senki, in the corner he stood. Just now Tanya was rearranging him, as if in chalk. Tanya was frightened, she sat frozen, and the man jumped (yelled in surprise. - Ed.), dropped the ax and grabbed his eyes with both hands, as it burned them. Moans and screams:
- Oh, fathers, I'm blind! Oh, blind! - and he rubs his eyes.
Tanya sees that something is wrong with the man and begins to ask:
- How did you come to us, uncle, why did you take the ax?
And he, you know, groans and rubs his eyes. Tanya took pity on him - she scooped up a ladle of water and wanted to serve it, but the man just shied away with his back to the door.
- Oh, don't come closer! - So he sat in the senki and blocked the doors so that Tanya wouldn’t inadvertently jump out. Yes, she found a way - she ran out through the window and to her neighbors. Well, here we come. They began to ask what kind of person, in what case? He blinked a little and explained that the person passing by wanted to ask for a favor, but something happened to his eyes.
- Like the sun hit. I thought I would go completely blind. From the heat, perhaps.
Tanya didn’t tell her neighbors about the ax and the stones. They think:
“It’s a trivial matter. Maybe she herself forgot to lock the gate, so a passer-by came in, and then something happened to him. You never know.”
Still, they didn’t let the passerby go until Nastasya. When she and her sons arrived, this man told her what he had told his neighbors. Nastasya sees that everything is safe, she did not get involved. That man left, and so did the neighbors.
Then Tanya told her mother how it happened. Then Nastasya realized that he had come for the box, but apparently it was not easy to take it.
And she thinks:
“We still need to protect her more tightly.”
She took it quietly from Tanya and the others and buried that box in the golbets (underground - Ed.).
All the family left again. Tanya missed the box, but there was one. It seemed bitter to Tanya, but then suddenly she felt a warmth. What is this thing? Where? I looked around, and there was light coming from under the floor. Tanya was scared - was it a fire? I looked into the golbets, there was light in one corner. She grabbed a bucket and wanted to splash it, but there was no fire and there was no smell of smoke. I dug around in that place and saw a box. I opened it, and the stones became even more beautiful. So they burn with different lights, and the light from them is like in the sun. Tanya didn’t even drag the box into the hut. Here in the golbtse I played my fill.
This is how it has been since then. The mother thinks: “Well, she hid it well, no one knows,” and the daughter, like housekeeping, snatches an hour to play with her father’s expensive gift. Nastasya didn’t even let her family know about the sale.
- If it fits around the world, then I’ll sell it.
Even though it was tough for her, she strengthened herself. So they struggled for a few more years, then things got better. The older boys began to earn little, and Tanya did not sit idle. Listen, she learned how to sew with silks and beads. And so I learned that the best master craftswomen clapped their hands - where does she get the patterns, where does she get the silk?
And it also happened by chance. A woman comes to them. She was short, dark-haired, about Nastasya’s age, and sharp-eyed, and, apparently, she was snooping around like that, just hold on. On the back there is a canvas bag, in the hand there is a bird cherry bag, it looks like a wanderer. Asks Nastasya:
- Couldn't you, mistress, have a day or two to rest? They don’t carry their legs, and they can’t walk close.
At first Nastasya wondered if she had been sent for the box again, but then she finally let her go.
- I don’t mind the space. If you don’t lie there, go and take it with you. Only our piece is an orphan. In the morning - onion with kvass, in the evening - kvass with onions, that's it. You are not afraid of becoming thin, so you are welcome to live as long as you need to.
And the wanderer has already put her bag down, put her knapsack on the stove and takes off her shoes. Nastasya didn’t like this, but kept silent.
“Look at you, you ignorant (uncourteous - Ed.)! I didn’t have time to greet her, but she just took off her shoes and untied her knapsack.”
The woman, sure enough, unbuttoned her purse and beckoned Tanya to her with her finger:
- Come on, child, look at my handicraft. If he takes a look, I’ll teach you... Apparently, you’ll have a keen eye for it!
Tanya came up, and the woman handed her a small fly, the ends embroidered with silk. And such and such, hey, a hot pattern on that fly that just became lighter and warmer in the hut.
Tanya's eyes glared, and the woman chuckled.
- Look, do you know, daughter, my handicraft? Do you want me to learn it?
“I want to,” he says. Nastasya got so angry:
- And forget to think! There’s nothing to buy salt with, but you came up with the idea of sewing with silks! Supplies, go figure, cost money.
“Don’t worry about that, mistress,” says the wanderer. - If my daughter has an idea, she will have supplies. For your bread and salt I’ll leave it to her - it’ll last for a long time. And then you will see for yourself. They pay money for our skill. We don’t give away our work for nothing. We have a piece.
Here Nastasya had to give in.
- If you spare enough supplies, you won’t learn anything. Let him learn as long as the concept is enough. I'll thank you.
This woman started teaching Tanya. Tanya quickly took over everything, as if she knew it before. Yes, here's another thing. Tanya was not only unkind to strangers, but to her own people, but she just clings to this woman and clings to her. Nastasya looked askance:
“I found myself a new relative. She won’t fit in with her mother, but she’s stuck with a tramp!”
And she still teases her, keeps calling Tanya “child” and “daughter”, but never mentions her baptized name. Tanya sees that her mother is offended, but cannot restrain herself. Before that, hey, I trusted this woman because I told her about the box!
“We have,” he says, “we have a dear memento from my father—a malachite box.” That's where the stones are! I could look at them forever.
- Will you show me, daughter? - asks the woman.
Tanya didn’t even think that something was wrong.
“I’ll show you,” he says, “when none of the family is home.”
After such an hour, Tanyushka turned around and called that woman to the cabbage. Tanya took out the box and showed it, and the woman looked at it a little and said:
- Put it on yourself - you will see better. Well, Tanya, - the wrong word (immediately - Ed.), - began to put it on, and you know, she praises:
- Okay, daughter, okay! It just needs to be corrected a little.
She came closer and started poking the stones with her finger. The one that touches will light up differently. Tanya can see other things, but not others. After this the woman says:
- Stand up, daughter, straight.
Tanya stood up, and the woman began to slowly stroke her hair and her back. She ironed everything, and she herself instructs:
- I’ll make you turn around, so look, don’t look back at me. Look ahead, take note of what will happen, and don’t say anything. Well, turn around!
Tanya turned around - in front of her was a room the likes of which she had never seen. It's not the church, it's not like that. The ceilings are high on pillars made of pure malachite. The walls are also lined with malachite the height of a man, and a malachite pattern runs along the upper cornice. Standing right in front of Tanya, as if in the mirror, is a beauty the likes of which they only talk about in fairy tales. Her hair is like night and her eyes are green. And she is all decorated with expensive stones, and her dress is made of green velvet with iridescence. And so this dress is made, just like the queens in the paintings. What does it hold on to? Out of shame, our factory workers would burn to death to wear something like that in public, but this green-eyed girl stands there calmly, as if that’s the way it should be. There are a lot of people in that room. They are dressed like a lord, and everyone is wearing gold and merit. Some have it hung on the front, some have it sewn on the back, and some have it on all sides. Apparently, the highest authorities. And their women are right there. Also bare-armed, bare-breasted, hung with stones. But where do they care about the green-eyed one! None hold a candle.
In a row with the green-eyed one is some kind of fair-haired guy. Eyes slanted, ears stumpy, like eating a hare.
And the clothes he’s wearing are mind-blowing. This guy didn’t think the gold was enough, so he, hey, put stones on his shoes (shoes - Ed.). Yes, so strong that maybe in ten years they will find one like him. You can immediately see that this is a breeder. That green-eyed hare is babbling, but she at least raised an eyebrow, as if he were not there at all.
Tanya looks at this lady, marvels at her, and only then notices:
- After all, there are stones on it! - Tanya said, and nothing happened. And the woman chuckles:
- I didn’t notice, daughter! Don't worry, you'll see in time.
Tanya, of course, asks - where is this room?
“And this,” he says, “is the royal palace.” The same chamber that is decorated with local malachite. Your late father mined it.
- Who is this in her dad’s headdress and what kind of hare is she with?
- Well, I won’t say that, you’ll soon find out for yourself.
On the same day that Nastasya came home, this woman began to get ready for the journey. She bowed low to the hostess, handed Tanya a bundle of silks and beads, then took out a small button. Either it is made of glass, or it is made of foolscap with a simple edge.
He gives it to Tanya and says:
- Accept, daughter, a memo from me. Whenever you forget something at work or a difficult situation comes up, look at this button. Here you will have the answer. She said so and left. They only saw her. From that time on, Tanya became a craftswoman, and as she grew older, she looked like a bride. The factory guys have calloused their eyes about Nastasya’s windows, and they are afraid to approach Tanya. You see, she’s unkind, gloomy, and where would a free woman marry a serf? Who wants to put on a noose?
In the manor's house they also inquired about Tanya because of her skill. They began to send people to her. A younger and nicer footman will be dressed like a gentleman, given a watch with a chain and sent to Tanya, as if on some business. They wonder if the girl will have her sights set on this fellow. Then you can convert it (subjugate it - Ed.). It still didn't make any sense. Tanya will say that it’s on business, and other conversations of that lackey will be ignored. If he gets bored, he will make some mockery:
- Go, my dear, go! They're waiting. They're afraid that your watch might wear out and your grip might loosen. See, without the habit, how you call them.
Well, these words are like boiling water for a dog to a footman or other servant of the lord. He runs as if scalded, snorting to himself:
- Is this a girl? Stone statue, green-eyed! Will we find one!
He snorts like that, but he himself is overwhelmed. The one who will be sent cannot forget Tanyushka’s beauty. Like someone who is bewitched, he is drawn to that place - even to pass by, to look out the window. On holidays, almost all the factory bachelors have business on that street. The path has been paved right by the windows, but Tanya doesn’t even look.
The neighbors began to reproach Nastasya:
- Why is it that Tatyana behaved so highly? She doesn’t have girlfriends and doesn’t want to look at guys. The Tsarevich-Krolevich is waiting for Christ's bride, is everything going well?
Nastasya just sighs at these submissions:
- Oh, ladies, I don’t even know. And so I had a wise girl, and this passing witch completely tormented her. You start talking to her, and she stares at her magic button and remains silent. She should have thrown away that damned button, but in fact it’s good for her. How to change the silk or something, it looks like a button. She told me too, but apparently my eyes have become dull, I can’t see. I would beat the girl, yes, you see, she’s a gold digger among us. Consider, it is only her work that we live. I think, I think, and I’ll roar. Well, then she will say: “Mommy, I know that there is no destiny for me here. I don’t greet anyone and don’t go to games. What’s the point of making people sad? And why am I sitting under the window, my work requires it. For Why are you coming at me (blaming me. - Ed.)? What wrong have I done? So answer her!
Well, life started to go well after all. Tanya’s handicraft has become fashionable. It’s not like in the al factory in our city, they learned about it in other places, they send orders and pay a lot of money. A good man can earn so much money. Only then did trouble befall them - a fire broke out. And it happened at night. The shelter (a building for livestock. - Ed.), the delivery house (an outbuilding for a milking cart. - Ed.), a horse, a cow, all kinds of tackle - everything burned down. They were left with nothing but what they jumped out in. However, Nastasya snatched the box in time. The next day he says:
- Apparently, the end has come - I’ll have to sell the box.
Sons in one voice:
- Sell it, mommy. Just don't sell it short.
Tanya glanced furtively at the button, and there the green-eyed one loomed - let them sell it. Tanya felt bitter, but what can you do? All the same, this green-eyed girl’s father’s memo will go away. She sighed and said:
- Sell like that. - And I didn’t even look at those stones goodbye. And that’s to say - they took shelter with neighbors, where to lay out.
They came up with this idea - to sell it, but the merchants were right there. Who, perhaps, set up the arson himself in order to take possession of the box. Also, the little people are like nails, they’ll get scratched! They see that the kids have grown up, and they give more. Five hundred there, seven hundred, one reached a thousand. There's a lot of money in the plant, you can use it to get some. Well, Nastasya still asked for two thousand. So they go to her and dress up. They throw it on little by little, but they hide from each other, they cannot come to an agreement among themselves. Look at a piece of this - no one wants to give up. While they were walking like this, a new clerk arrived at Polevaya.
When they - clerks - sit for a long time, and in those years they had some kind of transfer. The stuffy goat that was with Stepan was dismissed by the old gentleman on Krylatovskoe for the stench. Then there was Fried Butt. The workers put him on a blank. Here Severyan the Killer stepped in. This again the Mistress of the Copper Mountain threw into the empty rock. There were two or three more there, and then this one arrived.
They say he was from foreign lands, he seemed to speak all sorts of languages, but worse in Russian. He strictly reprimanded one thing - flog. From above, like that, with a stretch - a couple. No matter what shortage they talk to him about, one thing screams: paro! They called him Parotey.
In fact, this Parotya was not very thin. At least he shouted, but he didn’t drive people to the firehouse (the place where workers were tortured - Ed.). The local whippersnappers (offenders - Ed.) didn’t even care. The people sighed a little at this Parot.
Here, you see, there’s something wrong. By that time the old master had become completely frail, he could barely move his legs. He came up with the idea of marrying his son to some countess or something. Well, this young master had a mistress, and he had great affection for her. How should things be? It's still awkward. What will the new matchmakers say? So the old master began to persuade that woman - his son’s mistress - to marry the musician. This musician served with the master. He taught the little boys, through music, foreign conversation, as it was conducted according to their position.
“Why,” he says, “how can you live on bad fame, get married.” I’ll give you a dowry and send your husband as a clerk to Polevaya. The matter is directed there, just let the people be stricter. That's enough, I guess it's no use even if you're a musician. And you will live better than the best with him in Polevoy. The first person, one might say, will be. Honor to you, respect from everyone. What's bad?

The butterfly turned out to be a conspiracy. Either she was in a quarrel with the young master, or she was playing tricks.
“For a long time,” he says, “I had a dream about this, but to say, I didn’t dare.”
Well, the musician, of course, was reluctant at first:
“I don’t want to,” she has a very bad reputation, like a slut.
Only the master is a cunning old man. No wonder he built factories. He quickly ruined this musician. He intimidated them with something, or flattered them, or gave them something to drink - that was their business, but soon the wedding was celebrated, and the newlyweds went to Polevaya. So Parotya appeared in our plant. He only lived for a short time, and so - what can I say in vain - he is not a harmful person. Then, when one and a half Hari took over from his factory, they felt so sorry for even this Parotya.
Parotya arrived with his wife just at the time when the merchants were courting Nastasya. Baba Parotina was also prominent. White and ruddy - in a word, a lover. Probably the master wouldn't have taken it. I guess I chose it too! This Parotin’s wife heard that the box was being sold. “Let me see,” he thinks, “I’ll see if it’s really worthwhile.” She quickly got dressed and rolled up to Nastasya. Factory horses are always ready for them!
“Well,” he says, “dear, show me what kind of stones you sell?”
Nastasya took out the box and showed it. Baba Parotina’s eyes began to dart. Listen, she was brought up in Sam-Petersburg, she had been to various foreign countries with the young master, she had a lot of sense in these outfits. “What is this,” he thinks, “the tsarina herself doesn’t have such jewelry, but here it is, in Polevoy, among the fire victims! As if the purchase wouldn’t fall through.”
“How much,” he asks, “are you asking?”
Nastasya says:
- I would like to take two thousand.
- Well, honey, get ready! Let's go to me with the box. There you will get the money in full.
Nastasya, however, did not give in to this.
“We,” he says, “don’t have such a custom that bread follows the belly.” If you bring the money, the box is yours.
The lady sees what a woman she is, she’s eagerly running after the money, and she herself punishes:
- Don’t sell the box, honey.
Nastasya answers:
- It's in hope. I won’t go back on my word. I’ll wait until evening, and then it’s my will.
Parotin’s wife left, and the merchants all came running at once. They were watching, you see. They ask:
- Well, how?
“I sold it,” Nastasya answers.
- How much?
- For two, as prescribed.
“What are you doing,” they shout, “have you made up your mind or what?” You give it into the hands of others, but deny it to your own! - And let's raise the price.
Well, Nastasya didn’t take the bait.
“This,” he says, “is something you are accustomed to spinning around in words, but I haven’t had the chance.” I reassured the woman and the conversation was over!
Parotina's woman turned around very quickly. She brought the money, passed it from hand to hand, picked up the box and went home. Just on the threshold, and Tanya is coming towards you. She, you see, went somewhere, and all this sale happened without her. He sees some lady with a box. Tanya stared at her - they say, she’s not the one she saw then. And Parotin’s wife stared even more:
- What kind of obsession? Whose is this? - asks.
“People call me daughter,” Nastasya answers. - You yourself are the heir to the box you bought. I wouldn’t sell it if the end didn’t come. From a young age I loved to play with these dresses. He plays and praises them - they make them feel warm and good. What can I say about this? What's in the cart is gone!
“It’s wrong, dear, you think so,” says Baba Parotina. - I’ll find a place for these stones. - And he thinks to himself: “It’s good that this green-eyed one doesn’t feel her power. If she showed up in Sam-Petersburg, she would turn over the kings. It must be that my fool Turchaninov didn’t see her.”
With that we parted ways.
Parotya’s wife, when she arrived home, boasted:
- Now, dear friend, I’m not forced by you or the Turchaninovs. Just a little - goodbye! I’ll go to Sam-Petersburg or, better yet, abroad, sell the box and buy two dozen men like you, if the need arises.
She boasted, but she still wants to show off her new purchase. Well, what a woman! She ran to the mirror and first of all attached the headband. - Oh, oh, what is it! - I have no patience - he twists and pulls his hair. I barely got out. And he’s itching. I put on the earrings and almost tore the earlobes. She put her finger in the ring - it was chained, she could barely pull it off with soap. The husband chuckles: this is obviously not the way to wear it!
And she thinks: “What kind of thing is this? I need to go to the city and show it to the master. He’ll fit it just right, as long as he doesn’t replace the stones.”
No sooner said than done. The next day she drove off in the morning. It's not far from the factory troika. I found out who the most reliable master is - and went to him. The master is very old, but he is good at his work. He looked at the box and asked who it was bought from. The lady said that she knew. The master looked at the box again, but did not look at the stones.
“I won’t take it,” he says, “let’s do whatever you want.” This is not the work of the masters here. We can't compete with them.
The lady, of course, did not understand what the squiggle was, she snorted and ran to the other masters. Only everyone agreed: they will look at the box, admire it, but they don’t look at the stones and flatly refuse to work. The lady then resorted to tricks and said that she brought this box from Sam-Petersburg. They did everything there. Well, the master for whom she wove this just laughed.
“I know,” he says, “where the box was made, and I’ve heard a lot about the master.” All of us can't compete with him. The master fits one for one, it won’t suit another, whatever you want to do.
The lady didn’t understand everything here either, all she understood was that something was wrong, the masters were afraid of someone. I remembered that the old housewife said that her daughter loved to put these dresses on herself.
“Wasn’t it the green-eyed one they were chasing after? What a disaster!”
Then he translates again in his mind:
“What do I care? I’ll sell it to some rich fool. Let him toil, and I’ll have the money!” With this I left for Polevaya.
I arrived, and there was news: we received the news - the old master ordered us to live long. He pulled a trick on Paroteya, but death outwitted him - it took him and hit him. He never managed to get his son married, and now he has become the complete master. After a short time, Parotin’s wife received a letter. So and so, my dear, I’ll come along the spring water to show myself at the factories and take you away, and we’ll caulk your musician somewhere. Parotya somehow found out about this and started a fuss. It's a shame, you see, for him in front of the people. After all, he’s a clerk, and then look, his wife is taken away. I started drinking heavily. With employees, of course. They are happy to try for nothing. Once upon a time we feasted. One of these drinkers and boast:
“A beauty grew up in our factory; you won’t soon find another like it.”
Parotya asks:
-Whose is this? Where does he live? Well, they told him and mentioned the box - it was in this family that your wife bought the box. Parotya says:
- I'd like to see, - but the drinkers found some good stuff (preposition - Ed.).
“At least let’s go now to inspect whether they installed the new hut okay.” The family may be free, but they live on factory land. If something happens, you can press it.
Two or three went with this Parotei. They brought the chain, let’s measure it to see if Nastasya had stabbed herself in someone else’s estate, if the tops were coming out between the pillars. They are looking for, in a word. Then they go into the hut, and Tanya was just alone. Parotya looked at her and was lost for words. Well, I have never seen such beauty in any land. He stands there like a fool, and she sits there, keeping quiet, as if it’s none of her business. Then Parotya walked away a little and began asking:
- What are you doing?
Tanya says:
“I sew to order,” and she showed me her work.
“Can I place an order,” says Parotya?
- Why not, if we agree on the price.
“Can you,” Parotya asks again, “embroider my pattern with silk?”
Tanya slowly looked at the button, and there the green-eyed woman gave her a sign - take the order! - and points a finger at himself. Tanya answers:
- I won’t have my own pattern, but I have a woman in my mind wearing expensive stones, in the queen’s dress, I can embroider this one. But such work will not be cheap.
“Don’t worry about this,” he says, “I’ll pay even a hundred, even two hundred rubles, as long as there is a similarity with you.”
“In the face,” he answers, “there will be similarities, but the clothes are different.”
We got dressed for a hundred rubles. Tanya set a deadline - in a month. Only Parotya, no, no, will run in as if to find out about the order, but he himself has the wrong thing in mind. He’s also frowned upon, but Tanya doesn’t notice at all. He will say two or three words, and that’s the whole conversation. Parotin’s drinkers began to laugh at him:
- It won’t break off here. You shouldn't be shaking your boots!
Well, Tanya embroidered that pattern. Parotya looks - oh my God! But that’s what she is, adorned with clothes and stones. Of course, he gives me three hundred-dollar tickets, but Tanya didn’t take two.
“We’re not used to accepting gifts,” he says. We feed on labor.
Parotya ran home, admired the pattern, and kept it secret from his wife. He began to feast less, and began to delve into the factory business a little bit.
In the spring, a young gentleman came to the factories. I drove to Polevaya. The people were rounded up, a prayer service was served, and then in the manor's house the tonsky-ringers (dancing, fun. - Ed.) went. Two barrels of wine were also rolled out to the people - to remember the old master and congratulate the new master. That means the seed has been done. All the Turchanin masters were experts at this. As soon as you fill the master’s glass with a dozen of your own, it will seem like God knows what kind of holiday, but in reality it will turn out that you’ve washed your last penny and it’s completely useless. The next day people went to work, and there was another feast in the master's house. And so it went. They’ll sleep as long as they can and then go on a party again. Well, there, they ride boats, ride horses into the forest, play music, you never know. And Parotya is drunk all the time. The master put the most dashing roosters with him on purpose - pump him up to capacity! Well, they try to serve the new master.
Even though Parotya is drunk, he senses where things are headed. He feels awkward in front of guests. He says at the table, in front of everyone:
“It doesn’t matter to me that master Turchaninov wants to take my wife away from me.” May you be lucky! I don't need one like that. That's who I have! - Yes, and he takes that silk patch out of his pocket. Everyone gasped, but Baba Parotina couldn’t even close her mouth. The master, too, had his eyes fixed on him. He became curious.
- Who is she? - asks. Parotya, you know, laughs:
- The table is full of gold - and I won’t say that!
Well, what can you say if the factory workers immediately recognized Tanya? One tries in front of the other - they explain to the master. Parotina woman with arms and legs:
- What do you! What do you! Talk nonsense like that! Where did a factory girl get such a dress and expensive stones? And this husband brought the pattern from abroad. He showed it to me before the wedding. Now, from drunken eyes, you never know what will happen. Soon he won’t remember himself. Look, he's all swollen!
Parotya sees that his wife is not very nice, so he starts blabbering:
- You are Stramina, Stramina! Why are you weaving braids (gossiping - Ed.), throwing sand in the master’s eyes! What pattern did I show you? Here they sewed it for me. The same girl they're talking about over there. About the dress - I won't lie - I don't know. You can wear whatever dress you want. And they had stones. Now you have them locked in your closet. I bought them myself for two thousand, but I couldn’t wear them. Apparently, the Cherkassy saddle does not suit the cow. The whole factory knows about the purchase!
As soon as the master heard about the stones, he immediately:
- Come on, show me!
He was, I hear, a little smart, a little extravagant. In a word, heir. He had a strong passion for stones. He had nothing to show off - as they say, neither his height nor his voice - just stones. Wherever he hears about a good stone, he can buy it now. And he knew a lot about stones, even though he wasn’t very smart.
Baba Parotina sees that there is nothing to do, she brought the box. The master looked and immediately:
- How many?
It boomed completely unheard of. Master dress up. Halfway through they agreed, and the master signed the loan paper: you see, he didn’t have any money with him. The master put the box on the table in front of him and said:
- Call this girl we're talking about.
They ran for Tanya. She didn’t mind, she went straight away, thinking how big the order was. She comes into the room, and it’s full of people, and in the middle is the same hare that she saw then. In front of this hare is a box - a gift from his father. Tanya immediately recognized the master and asked:
- Why did they call you?
The master cannot say a word. I stared at her, and that was all. Then I finally found a conversation:
- Your stones?
“They were ours, now these are theirs,” and pointed to Parotina’s wife.
“Mine now,” the master boasted.
- This is your business.
- Do you want me to give it back?
- There is nothing to give.
- Well, can you try them on yourself? I would like to see how these stones look on a person.
“That,” Tanya answers, “is possible.”
She took the box, dismantled the decorations - a usual thing - and quickly attached them to their place. The master looks and just gasps. Oh yes oh, no more words. Tanya stood in her attire and asked:
- Have you looked? Will? It’s not easy for me to stand here - I have work. The master is here in front of everyone and says:
- Marry me. Agree?
Tanya just grinned:
- It wouldn’t be appropriate for a master to say such a thing. - She took off her clothes and left.
Only the master does not lag behind. The next day he came to make a match. He asks and prays to Nastasya: give up your daughter for me.
Nastasya says:
“I don’t take away her will, as she wants, but in my opinion it doesn’t fit.”
Tanya listened and listened and said:
- That's it, that's it... I heard that in the royal palace there is a chamber lined with malachite from the booty of the king. Now, if you show me the queen in this chamber, then I will marry you.
The master, of course, agrees to everything. Now he’s starting to get ready for Sam-Petersburg and is calling Tanya with him - he says, I’ll give you the horses. And Tanya answers:
“According to our ritual, the bride does not ride to the wedding on the groom’s horses, and we are still nothing.” Then we’ll talk about it once you’ve fulfilled your promise.
“When,” he asks, “will you be in Sam-Petersburg?”
“I’ll definitely go to the Intercession,” he says. Don’t worry about it, but for now, leave here.
The master left, of course he didn’t take Parotina’s wife, he doesn’t even look at her. As soon as I came home to Sam-Petersburg, let’s spread the word all over the city about the stones and about my bride. I showed the box to many people. Well, the bride was very curious to see. For the fall, the master prepared an apartment for Tanya, brought all sorts of dresses, shoes, and she sent the news - here she lives with such and such a widow on the very outskirts. The master, of course, is going there right away:
- What do you! Is it a good idea to live here? The apartment is ready, first grade! And Tanya answers:
- I'm fine here.
The rumor about the stones and Turchaninov’s bride reached the queen. She says:
- Let Turchaninov show me his bride. There are a lot of lies about her.
Master to Tanyushka, they say, we need to get ready. Sew an outfit so that you can wear stones from a malachite box into the palace. Tanya answers:
- It’s not your sadness about the outfit, but I’ll take the stones to keep. Yes, look, don’t try to send horses after me. I'll use mine. Just wait for me at the porch, in the palace.
The master thinks - where did she get the horses from? where is the palace dress? - but still didn’t dare ask.
So they began to gather for the palace. Everyone rides up on horses, wearing silks and velvets. Turchaninov's master hangs around the porch early in the morning - waiting for his bride. Others are also curious to look at her - they stopped immediately. And Tanya put on her stones, tied herself with a scarf in the factory style, threw on her fur coat and walked quietly. Well, people - where did this come from? - the shaft is falling behind her. Tanyushka approached the palace, but the royal lackeys did not let her in - it was not allowed, they say, because of the factory workers. Turchaninov's master saw Tanyushka from afar, but he was ashamed in front of his own people that his bride was on foot, and even in such a fur coat, he took it and hid. Tanya then opened her fur coat, the footmen looked - what a dress! The queen doesn't have that! - they let me in right away. And when Tanya took off her scarf and fur coat, everyone around gasped:
-Whose is this? Which lands is the queen? And master Turchaninov is right there.
“My bride,” he says.
Tanya looked at him sternly:
- We'll see about that! Why did you deceive me - you didn’t wait at the porch?
Master back and forth - it was a mistake. Excuse me please.
They went to the royal chambers, where they were ordered. Tanya looks - it’s not the right place. Turchaninova asked the master even more sternly:
- What kind of deception is this? It was told to you that in that chamber, which is lined with malachite from woodwork! - And she walked through the palace, just like at home. And senators, generals and others follow her.
- What, they say, is this? Apparently, it was ordered there.
There were a ton of people, and everyone couldn’t take their eyes off Tanya, but she stood right next to the malachite wall and waited. Turchaninov, of course, is right there. He mutters to her that something is wrong, the queen did not order her to wait in this room. And Tanya stands calmly, even if she raised an eyebrow, as if the master was not there at all.
The queen went out into the room where she was assigned. He looks - there is no one. The Tsarina’s earphones bring it home - Turchaninov’s bride took everyone to the malachite chamber. The queen grumbled, of course, - what kind of self-will! She stamped her feet. She got a little angry, that is. The queen comes to the malachite chamber. Everyone bows to her, but Tanya stands there and doesn’t move.
The queen shouts:
- Well, show me this unauthorized bride - Turchaninov’s bride!
- Tanya heard this, completely furrowed her eyebrows, and said to the master:
- This is something else I came up with! I told the queen to show me, and you arranged to show me to her. Cheating again! I don't want to see you anymore! Get your stones!
With this word she leaned against the malachite wall and melted. All that remains is that the stones sparkle on the wall, as if stuck to the places where the head, neck, and arms were.
Everyone, of course, was scared, and the queen fell unconscious on the floor. They started fussing and started lifting. Then, when the commotion subsided, the friends said to Turchaninov:
- Pick up some stones! They'll steal it quickly. Not just any place - a palace! They know the price here!
Turchaninov and let's grab those stones. The one he grabs will curl up into a droplet. Sometimes the drop is pure, like a tear, sometimes it’s yellow, and sometimes it’s thick, like blood. So I didn’t collect anything. He looks and sees a button lying on the floor. From bottle glass to a simple edge. Not a big deal at all. Out of grief, he grabbed her. As soon as he took it in his hand, in this button, as in a large mirror, a green-eyed beauty in a malachite dress, all decorated with expensive stones, burst out laughing:
- Oh, you crazy slanting hare! Should you take me? Are you my match?
After that, the master lost his last mind, but did not throw away the button. No, no, and he looks at her, and there everything is the same: the green-eyed one is standing there, laughing and saying offensive words. Out of grief, the master let's copy, he got into debt, and almost our factory goods were auctioned off under him.
And Parotya, when he was suspended, went to the taverns. I drank to the point of drinking, and the patret is that silken shore.
No one knows where this pattern went afterwards.
Parotin’s wife didn’t profit either: you’ll get the loan paper if all the iron and copper are pledged!
From that time on, there was not a word from our factory about Tanya. How it wasn't.
Nastasya grieved, of course, but not too much either. Tanya, you see, at least she was a caretaker for the family, but Nastasya is still like a stranger.
And that is to say, Nastasya’s boys had grown up by that time. Both got married. The grandchildren have gone. There were a lot of people in the hut. Know, turn around - look after this one, give it to someone else... It's getting boring here!
The bachelor did not forget longer. He kept trampling under Nastasya’s windows. They waited to see if Tanya would appear at the window, but they never did.
Then, of course, they got married, but no, no, they remember:
- That's what kind of girl we had in the factory! You won't see another one like this in your life.
Moreover, after this incident, a note came out. They said that the Mistress of the Copper Mountain began to double: people saw two girls in malachite dresses at once.

Pavel Petrovich Bazhov

Malachite Box

Copper Mountain Mistress

Two of our factory workers went to look at the grass. And their mowing was far away. Somewhere behind Severushka.

It's good in the forest. The birds sing and rejoice, the earth soars, the spirit is light. Listen, they were exhausted. We reached the Krasnogorsk mine. Iron ore was mined there back then. So our guys lay down on the grass under the rowan tree and immediately fell asleep. Only suddenly the young man—someone pushed him in the side—woke up. He looks, and in front of him, on a pile of ore near a large stone, a woman is sitting. Her back is to the guy, and you can see from her braid that she’s a girl. The braid is gray-black and doesn’t dangle like our girls’, but sticks straight to the back. At the end of the tape are either red or green. They shine through and ring subtly, like sheet copper. The guy marvels at the scythe, and then he notices further. The girl is small in stature, good-looking and such a cool wheel - she won’t sit still. He will lean forward, look exactly under his feet, then lean back again, bend to one side, to the other. He jumps to his feet, waves his arms, then bends down again. In a word, artut girl. You can hear him babbling something, but in what way he speaks it is unknown, and with whom he speaks is not visible. Just a laugh. Apparently she's having fun.

The guy was about to say a word, when suddenly he was hit on the back of the head.

- My mother, but this is the Mistress herself! Her clothes are something. How did I not notice it right away? She averted her eyes with her oblique.

Just when she thought something like that, she looked back. He looks at the guy cheerfully, bares his teeth and says jokingly:

“What, Stepan Petrovich, are you staring at the girl’s beauty for nothing?” They take money for a look. Come closer. Let's talk a little.

The guy was scared, of course, but he didn’t show it. Attached. Even though she is a secret force, she is still a girl. Well, he’s a guy, which means he’s ashamed to be shy in front of a girl.

“I have no time,” he says, “to talk.” Without that we slept and went to look at the grass.

She chuckles and then says:

- I'll play a tune for you. Go, I say, there’s something to do.

The girl laughs.

“Don’t part,” he says, “my army, Stepan Petrovich.” You are so big and heavy, but they are small for me. “And she clapped her hands together, and the lizards ran away and gave way.”

So the guy came closer, stopped, and she clapped her hands again and said, all laughing:

“Now you have nowhere to step.” If you crush my servant, there will be trouble.

- Well, now you recognize me, Stepanushko? - asks the malachite girl, and she bursts into laughter.

Then, a little later, he says:

- Don't be scared. I won't do anything bad to you.

The guy felt miserable that the girl was mocking him and even saying such words. He became very angry and even shouted:

- Who should I be afraid of, if I am timid in grief!

She said this and squinted:

– Don’t forget, Stepanushko, as I said. She supposedly told you, the stuffy goat, to get out of Krasnogorka. If you do it my way, I’ll marry you!

The guy even spat in the heat of the moment:

- Ugh, what trash! So that I marry a lizard.

And she sees him spitting and laughs.

“Okay,” he shouts, “we’ll talk later.” Maybe you'll think about it?

And immediately over the hill, only a green tail flashed.

I thought and thought and laughed:

“I wasn’t, I’ll do as she ordered.”

The next morning, as people gathered around the trigger drum, the factory clerk came up. Everyone, of course, took off their hats, remained silent, and Stepan came up and said:

The clerk even began to shake his mustache.

-What are you doing? Drunk or crazy? What Mistress? Who are you saying these words to? Yes, I will rot you in grief!

“Your will,” says Stepan, “and that’s the only way I was told.”

- Cool off here for a bit. And the lesson will cost you so much pure malachite - and he assigned it completely inappropriately.